title: Solar-powered oxygen delivery: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pneumonia is a leading cause of childhood mortality globally. Oxygen therapy improves survival in children with pneumonia, yet its availability remains limited in many resource-constrained settings where most deaths occur. Solar-powered oxygen delivery could be a sustainable method to improve oxygen delivery in remote areas with restricted access to a supply chain of compressed oxygen cylinders and reliable electrical power.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Solar-powered oxygen delivery systems will be compared to a conventional method (oxygen from cylinders) in patients with hypoxemic respiratory illness. Enrollment will occur at two sites in Uganda: Jinja Regional Referral Hospital and Kambuga District Hospital. The primary outcome will be the length of hospital stay. Secondary study endpoints will be mortality, duration of supplemental oxygen therapy (time to wean oxygen), proportion of patients successfully oxygenated, delivery system failure, cost, system maintenance and convenience.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The RCT will provide useful data on the feasibility and noninferiority of solar-powered oxygen delivery. This technological innovation uses freely available inputs, the sun and the air, to oxygenate children with pneumonia, and can be applied "off the grid" in remote and/or resource-constrained settings where most pneumonia deaths occur. If proven successful, solar-powered oxygen delivery systems could be scaled up and widely implemented for impact on global child mortality.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Clinicaltrials.gov registration number NCT0210086 (date of registration: 27 March, 2014).
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, Jinja, Uganda. kumbisaleh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Saleh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nyende
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. andrea.conroy@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conroy
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Mulago Hospital and Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. opokabob@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Robert Opika
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Opoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, Jinja, Uganda. somnamasopo@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Namasopo
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Mulago Hospital and Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. kevin.kain@uhn.ca.|Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. kevin.kain@uhn.ca.|Sandra A. Rotman Laboratories, McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto, Canada. kevin.kain@uhn.ca.|McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine, Toronto, Canada. kevin.kain@uhn.ca.|Tropical Disease Unit, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada. kevin.kain@uhn.ca.
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Kain
authors.affiliation: Infectious Disease Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda. arthurwakg@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mpimbaza
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. rb4@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhargava
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. mthawkes@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hawkes
mesh_terms: D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D002648:Child; D046688:Child Mortality; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003906:Developing Countries; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D007902:Length of Stay; D010100:Oxygen / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood / Q000191:economics; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012107:Research Design; D012993:Solar Energy; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014454:Uganda
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen