Understanding Fertility Choices in Burkina Faso

Last registered on December 17, 2021

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Understanding Fertility Choices in Burkina Faso
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002885
Initial registration date
April 16, 2018

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 17, 2018, 5:08 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
December 17, 2021, 10:32 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Northwestern University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
UCLA
PI Affiliation
University of Ouagadougou
PI Affiliation
Stanford University
PI Affiliation
University of Amsterdam

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2018-02-22
End date
2023-12-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study investigates three determinants of fertility in Burkina Faso: access to contraception, infant mortality perceptions, and social norms about family size. The study does so through household- and village-level interventions that provide free access to contraception at local health clinics; provide information on the area's level and recent trend in child mortality; engage villages in debates about family size norms and contraception; show an "edutainment" film that covers similar topics as discussed in the debates.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dupas, Pascaline et al. 2021. "Understanding Fertility Choices in Burkina Faso." AEA RCT Registry. December 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2885-1.1
Former Citation
Dupas, Pascaline et al. 2021. "Understanding Fertility Choices in Burkina Faso." AEA RCT Registry. December 17. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2885/history/106478
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The study involves 4 types of interventions:
1. free access to contraception at local health clinics provided through vouchers
2. information on the area's level and recent trend in child mortality
3. village-wide "American high school style" debates about family size norms and contraception
4. showing of an "edutainment" film that covers similar topics as discussed in the debates
Intervention Start Date
2018-02-22
Intervention End Date
2018-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
contraceptive use, fertility, desired fertility
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our sampling frame starts with 100 health centers sampled from among 20 provinces (out of a total of 45 provinces in Burkina Faso). Each of these health centers caters to at least 5 villages (and up to 8). We sampled exactly 5 villages in the catchment area of each health center, for a total of 500 villages.

The first randomization is done at the health center level: 50 health centers are randomly selected for the “Vouchers for free contraceptives” intervention. The other 50 health centers will be involved in a “10% discount” voucher intervention. The second randomization is done across villages within each health center stratum. The 5 villages in the stratum are randomly assigned to one of 5 groups: debates, debates with mortality information, village showing of edutainment video, no village-level intervention with medium-saturation household-level interventions, and no village-level intervention with low-saturation household-level interventions

The third randomization is done across households within villages not sampled for any village-level intervention. Households within these villages will be randomized to receive either mortality information, home viewing of the edutainment film, or nothing. The difference between medium and low saturation villages is in the share of households treated. In medium saturation, we assign 30% of households to the mortality info, 30% of households to edutainment, and 40% to be pure controls. In low saturation villages, these will be 15%, 15% and 70%, respectively.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
computer
Randomization Unit
varies: CSPS (health center), village, and household
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
health-center level randomization: 100 health centers
village-level randomization: 500 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 14,500 households and 31,900 individuals (1 husband and in expectation 1.2 wives per household on average)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
50 health centers (250 villages) with free contraception, 50 health centers (250 villages) with 10% voucher
100 villages with debates, 100 villages with debates followed by mortality information, 100 villages with village-level edutainment, 100 villages with within-village randomization of mortality information and edutainment (low saturation, see above) and 100 villages with within-village randomization of mortality information and edutainment (medium saturation, see above)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Northwestern University
IRB Approval Date
2017-04-25
IRB Approval Number
STU00205072
IRB Name
Comite d'Ethique Pour La Recherche En Sante
IRB Approval Date
2017-06-07
IRB Approval Number
2017-6-073

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials