Impact of mobile-assisted versus conventional contact tracing on detection and management of tuberculosis and level of satisfaction among primary contacts of index tuberculosis patients in Delhi: A cluster-randomized controlled pilot study

Background . Utilization of mobile health (m-health) technologies can become instrumental in establishing interactive communication for keeping contacts of tuberculosis (TB) patients engaged, informed and motivated until their timely and appropriate treatment initiation. Methods . A prospective cluster-randomized control trial was conducted in nine TB units (clusters) in Faridabad, Haryana, among 183 primary contacts of 40 index TB cases (14 years of age or older) from 1 February 2023 to 10 April 2023 to test the feasibility and evaluate the impact of conventional contact tracing interventions (c-CTI) versus c-CTI + m-CTI (mobile contact tracing interventions) on TB detection, management and satisfaction levels among primary TB contacts. Data were collected telephonically using a structured interview/observation schedule and Google forms-based Likert scale and compared using the STATA package at p < 0.05 (two-tailed) significance level post-intervention (after 7/28/56 days). Results . The study was found feasible, and among the intervention arm compared to the control arm, the TB symptom reporting (p < 0.001), TB diagnostics completion (p < 0.001) and satisfaction level (p < 0.001) were increased and total delay (p < 0.001) and pre-treatment lost to follow-up (p = 0.02) were reduced significantly. Thus the strategy of m-CTI + c-CTI is better than c-CTI alone in these respects. However, no significant difference was observed between groups regarding commencing TB preventive treatment, antituberculosis treatment or loss of contacts at referral. Conclusion . No adverse event was found during study conduct or participation; it can be conducted as a definitive trial with a larger sample size.