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NCT07860723
Estimating the Impact of Sexuality Education and Mobile Health Services on Reproductive Health and Empowerment Among Adolescents in Sierra Leone for the Family Planning Impact Lab
Conditions: Reproductive Health, Sexual Health, Contraception Behavior, Pregnancy (Unwanted), Empowerment, Agency, School Dropouts, Marriage
Sex: All
Ages: 12 Years – 17 Years
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Phase: NA
Enrollment: 5300
Sponsor: Guttmacher Institute
Location: 240 schools in Kambia and Kenema districts (confidential, cannot be disclosed) Freetown
Summary
The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to learn if comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and access to mobile sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in secondary schools can improve short- and long-term health, well-being, social and economic outcomes among adolescents and young people in two districts of Sierra Leone. The main questions it aims to answer are:
1. How do CSE and mobile SRH services (individually and combined) change adolescent SRHR, well-being and socioeconomic outcomes in the short term and in the longer term (over 3 years)?
2. What are the economic costs of providing CSE and mobile SRH services?
3. How cost-effective is the provision of CSE and mobile SRH services, given its potential impact on health, socioeconomic, and well-being outcomes?
4. To what extent are CSE and mobile SRH services being implemented according to the original plan and timeline?
Researchers will compare schools receiving CSE and mobile SRH services to schools not receiving these services, to see if adolescent SRHR, well-being and socioeconomic outcomes are better in those schools that received the services. The trial will compare four groups of schools, each with 60 participating schools:
1. No additional services (control schools)
2. Only CSE
3. Only mobile SRH services
4. CSE and mobile SRH services
The implementation of these services will be led by Marie Stopes Sierra Leone (MSSL) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. MSSL will ensure that participating schools:
* Attend teacher training on the CSE curriculum before the study starts, followed by yearly refresher training during the study
* Have sufficient time allocated to CSE in the weekly school schedule
* Have adequate teaching materials \& equipment to teach CSE
* Have guidance counsellors in each school who will monitor the implementation of CSE
* Have a designated "safe space" which adolescents can access for menstrual products and care.
* Have access to mobile SRH services (provided by MSSL staff) on the school premises 3 times per school year
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
* Aged 12 to 17 at baseline
* Enrolled in the lowest grade (JSS1) of one of the junior secondary schools selected for the study in September 2026
* Provided assent to participate in the research
Exclusion Criteria:
* Individuals unable to provide assent due to cognitive impairment or severe mental illness
* Individuals whose guardians opted them out
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07860723). StuddyBuddy aggregates publicly available trial information.