Pilot Trial of a Clinical Decision-Support App for Managing Emergencies Among Clinicians in a Rural Ugandan Hospital

Summary

This study is testing a new mobile application called the OASES App, developed by the University of Milano-Bicocca. The App is designed to help frontline clinicians (nurses, clinical officers, and nursing assistants) provide faster and more accurate emergency care for patients with life-threatening conditions such as severe diarrhea, breathing difficulties, and seizures.

The OASES App guides clinicians step by step through internationally recognized emergency care guidelines, including triage, diagnosis, and treatment recommendations. It is intended to be used offline on a tablet, making it suitable for rural hospitals with limited resources.

This is a pilot study to understand whether the App improves the way clinicians manage simulated emergency cases compared to standard practice. About 16 clinicians at Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital, Kalongo, Uganda will take part in structured simulation exercises using realistic patient scenarios. Each participant will manage cases with and without the App, so that the two approaches can be compared.

The main goal is to evaluate whether the App helps clinicians follow evidence-based guidelines more consistently. Other goals include measuring accuracy of triage, diagnosis, and treatment decisions, as well as the time needed to complete cases and clinicians' perceptions of usability, trust, and feasibility.

No real patients will be involved in this study. All scenarios are simulations conducted in a safe, controlled environment. The results will help refine the App and inform the design of a larger study in the future.

Conditions

• Diarrhea Infectious
• Seizures
• Emergency Care
• Clinical Decision Support Systems
• Rural Health
• Dyspnea

Interventions

OTHER

OASES App

The OASES App is a tablet-based digital clinical decision-support system (CDSS) developed in 2025 by the University of Milano-Bicocca. The App digitizes validated WHO- and Uganda guideline-based triage and emergency care algorithms, including the Interagency Integrated Triage Tool (IITT) and condition-specific pathways for diarrhea, dyspnea, and seizures in both adults and children. It provides step-by-step guidance for frontline clinicians during emergency case management and simultaneously collects structured clinical data. The App is designed for offline use in rural hospitals with limited infrastructure. In this trial, participants receive a brief orientation but no formal training before using the App during simulation scenarios.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Milano Bicocca

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Michele Bombelli, MD · University of Milano Bicocca

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-02-06

Primary Completion

2026-02-14

Completion

2026-02-14

Countries

• Uganda

Study Locations