# A mobile health tool to improve antibiotic stewardship among village doctors in Bangladesh

> **NIH NIH R33** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2024 · $298,640

## Abstract

Abstract
Diarrheal diseases are the among the leading cause of death in children worldwide, most of which occur in
low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The cornerstone for management of diarrhea is rehydration, though
antimicrobials are beneficial in some instances. Unfortunately, given that treatment is frequently empiric, based
mostly on clinical suspicion for bacterial causes, antimicrobials are overused in management of diarrheal
illness worldwide. Thus, there is a need for clinical decision support tools to inform clinical management and
promote antimicrobial stewardship. In particular, frontline healthcare providers in rural areas, such as village
doctors in Bangladesh, often have inadequate knowledge for the basis of antimicrobial use, and may benefit
greatly from guidance. We have recently developed a mobile phone based electronic clinical decision-support
tool (eCDST), and shown the impact of etiological prediction on physician antibiotic prescription practices for
pediatric diarrhea in two LMICs. In this proposal, our overarching goal is to customize our eCDST into a
comprehensive mHealth application (Accessible Diarrhea Etiology Prediction Tool, ADEPT) to support rural
health care providers in the management of pediatric diarrhea (R21 phase), and to measure its impact through
the performance of a pilot before-after feasibility study (R33 phase). Our work will contribute to an evidence
base for mHealth-enabled antimicrobial stewardship, with potential to extend beyond diarrheal illness, and into
other syndromes, including respiratory illness and febrile illness.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11180583
- **Project number:** 4R33HD109819-03
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Ashraful Islam Khan
- **Activity code:** R33 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $298,640
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2024-09-12 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11180583

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11180583, A mobile health tool to improve antibiotic stewardship among village doctors in Bangladesh (4R33HD109819-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11180583. Licensed CC0.

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