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RecruitingNCT05979168TelTex4BPUpdated Jul 8, 2026

Effectiveness and Adoption of the TelTex4BP Intervention Among Adults With Hypertension in Nepal

An interventional study of Phone call and text Messages in Hypertension, Medication Adherence and Blood Pressure, sponsored by Central Department of Public Health. Recruiting at 2 sites in Nepal. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-08.

Sponsored by Central Department of Public Health · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Nov 2025; still recruiting 1 year later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
500
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Despite evidence of preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk through lifestyle changes, many patients with hypertension (HTN) do not comply with this and suffer from CVD and other complications. A previous study using a structured lifestyle intervention program has reported a 14% decrease in the 10-year risk of developing CVD at one year among hypertensive and diabetes patients. Low and Middle-Income countries (LMICs) struggle with a shortage of health workers to deliver such interventions. In this context, mobile phones can contribute to bridging this gap by incorporating them into the health system for health intervention delivery. There is a need to develop contextual mHealth intervention adapted to local needs and culture and test its effectiveness in LMIC settings like Nepal. Our previous small-scale pilot mHealth (text messages) study reported promising evidence in reducing blood pressure among hypertensive patients in the intervention arm [adjusted reduction in systolic blood pressure (BP) -6.50 (95% CI, -12.6; -0.33) and diastolic BP -4.60 (95% CI, -8.16; -1.04)], with a greater proportion achieving target BP (70% vs 48% in the control arm, p = 0.006)] and improving treatment compliance (p \< 0.001) in Nepal. This finding supports the expansion to a large-scale trial of a structured mHealth intervention to see its long-term effectiveness and sustainability for patients with HTN to improve BP control and reduce CVD risk. Hence, this study aims to assess the effectiveness of a behavioural intervention through mHealth (telephone/mobile phone calls and text messages) informed by the RE-AIM framework for improving blood pressure control among patients with hypertension in a hospital (Manamohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Center) of Kathmandu, Nepal.

Read the detailed description

This study will be a hybrid type 2 effectiveness-implementation study using mixed methods, a parallel randomized controlled trial with a nested qualitative design. The intervention will be codesigned involving patients, their family members, and healthcare providers to incorporate their views, the local context and culture through a formative qualitative component informed by the CFIR. A multi-component mHealth intervention will be delivered through text messages and phone calls (TelTex4BP) by nurses, focusing on behaviour changes (physical activity, healthy diet), medication adherence, a reminder for follow-up, smoking, and alcohol intake. The intervention will be delivered for six months, and follow-up will be carried out at the end of the intervention and six months later (at one year) to assess sustainability and long-term effectiveness. Clinical (blood pressure, 10-year risk of CVD), intermediate (medication adherence, change of dietary habits/physical activity), and implementational outcomes ( Reach, Adoption, Intervention fidelity and Maintenance) will be evaluated using the RE-AIM framework. If the intervention is proven effective, the study findings will be disseminated to promote scaling up to other similar settings.

02

Conditions studied

  • Hypertension
  • Medication Adherence
  • Blood Pressure
  • Cardiovascular Diseases

Keywords

  • Mobile Intervention
  • Blood Pressure Control
  • Hypertension
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
03

In context

Hypertension

6,114 studies on the registry are indexed under Hypertension; 912 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 500 is above the median of 100 across 4,575 interventional studies indexed under Hypertension.

Browse Hypertension studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Central Department of Public Health as lead sponsor.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Clinical diagnosis of hypertension
  • Currently receiving/prescribed blood pressure-lowering medication for more than three months
  • With uncontrolled blood pressure (>130/80mm of Hg)
  • Should have access to a mobile phone
  • Able to read text messages ( by themselves/with the help of family)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed with myocardial infarction, stroke, and kidney failure
  • Severe mental illness, cognitive impairment
  • Pregnant women or in the postpartum period
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
500 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Intervention arm

    Hypertensive patients with uncontrolled BP in the intervention group will receive mobile phone text messages in the Nepali language and accept the phone call from the trained research nurse on their given mobile. They will also get the opportunity to ask questions and clarification during the phone call. However, text messaging would be only one way.

    Behavioral: Phone call and text Messages

  • No intervention
    Control arm

    The control arm will receive the usual routine maintenance. In Nepal, hypertensive patients usually receive a prescription of antihypertensive medicine and advise for follow-up as the standard care. In addition, a pamphlet containing information about hypertension and required behavior modifications will be provided to all study participants, including the control arm.

Interventions

  • BehavioralPhone call and text Messages

    The intervention consists of recommended lifestyle counselling (on a healthy diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol intake, medication adherence and continuity of care). This counselling will be provided through the research nurse at baseline and for six months (tentative plan phone call once a month; frequency and duration will be finalized based on formative study) by calling on participants' given mobile numbers. In addition, text message reminders on the same topics will be delivered regularly (2-3 times a week) for six months. The counselling and message will focus on three domains of COM-B; capabilities needed, opportunities and practical tools, and motivation strategies informed by behaviour change techniques.

    Also known as: TelTex4BP

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Systolic Blood Pressure

    Average of last of two measures of Blood pressure.

    Time frame: baseline, 6 and 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Blood Pressure Control

    Measures of Systolic and diastolic BP

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 and 12 months

  2. 10 year risk of development of CVD

    Globo CVD risk calculator

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 and 12 months

  3. Medication adherence

    Hill-Bone compliance to high blood pressure therapy scale will be use to measure adherence to antihypertensive therapy. This tool contains 14 items: nine items related to medication, three items on salt intake and two items on appointment keeping. Each item is scored on a response of 1-4. The total score of Hill Bone is 56 where a lower score indicates higher adherence to antihypertensive therapy.

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 and 12 months

  4. Dietary habits (salt intake, fruits and vegetables intake)

    Dietary salt \[9 items\] based on the WHO STEPs survey

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 and 12 months

  5. Physical activity

    Physical activity \[17 items\]based on the WHO STEPs survey

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 and 12 months

07

Study locations

2 of 2 sites recruiting
  • Sahid Gangalal National Heart Center
    Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal
    Recruiting
    • Rikesh Tamrakar, DM · Contact
  • Apara Innovations Pvt Ltd
    Kathmandu, Pradesh 3 (Bagmati) 40660, Nepal
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 8, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05979168
Lead sponsor
Central Department of Public Health
Collaborators
Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Apara Innovations Pvt. Ltd
Responsible party
Buna Bhandari (Assistant Professor, Indiana University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 7, 2023
Start date
Nov 2, 2025
Primary completion
Dec 15, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 8, 2026

Study contacts

Buna Bhandari, PhD
Contact
buna.bhandari@gmail.com
8508156644
Rabina Dhakal, MPH
Contact
dhakalrabina@gmail.com
977 9841075217
Buna Bhandari Bhattarai, PhD
principal investigator · Indiana University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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