Most final-year European medical students feel they still need more education on antibiotic use for their future practice as junior doctors. Patterns of preparedness on specific topics were identified, were highly consistent across countries, and correlated with both perceived need for further education and levels of antibiotic resistance among common bacteria.
Students should graduate from medical school feeling prepared to prescribe antibiotics responsibly. We assessed self-reported preparedness among students at medical schools in Europe, and we focus here on the results from students in Sweden and France, countries with wide differences in the intensity of antibiotic consumption and burden of antibiotic resistance. We conducted a cross-sectional web-based survey in 2015, based on a comprehensive set of topics related to prudent antibiotic use. All final year students at a medical school in France or Sweden were eligible to participate. Preparedness scores were calculated for each student, and mean scores were compared at medical school and country levels. Comparisons were also made on availability of teaching methods. We received responses from 2085/7653 (response rate 27.2%) students from 31/34 eligible medical schools in France and 302/1124 (26.9%) students from 7/7 schools in Sweden. The relative ranking order of curriculum topics by preparedness level was consistent between countries, but students in Sweden had higher self-reported levels of preparedness in 21/27 topics. There was higher availability for eight of nine teaching methods at Swedish medical schools. Students in France were more likely to report a need for further education on antibiotic use (63.5% vs. 20.3%, p < 0.001). Final year students in France report lower levels of preparedness, less availability of teaching methods and higher needs for more education on antibiotic use. Furthermore, we have identified specific areas for improvement in education on prudent antibiotic use in both Sweden and France.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10096-019-03494-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Background: Emergency care is among the weakest parts of health systems in low-income countries with both quality and accessibility constraints. Previous studies estimated accessibility to surgical or emergency care based on population travel times to nearest hospital with no assessment of hospital readiness to provide such care. We analysed a Malawi national facility census with comprehensive inventory audits and geocoded facility locations to identify hospitals equipped to provide basic paediatric emergency care with estimated travel times to these hospitals from non-equipped facilities and in relation to Malawi's population distribution. Methods: We analysed a Malawi national facility census in 2013-2014 to identify hospitals equipped to manage critically ill children according to an extended version of WHO Emergency Triage, Assessment and Treatment (ETAT) guidelines. These guidelines include 25 components including staff, transport, equipment, diagnostics, medications, fluids, feeds and consumables that defined an emergency-equipped hospital in our study. We estimated travel times to emergency-equipped hospitals from non-equipped facilities and relative to population distributions using geocoded facility locations and an established accessibility mapping approach using global road network datasets from OpenStreetMap and Google. Results: Four (3.5, 95% CI: 1.3-8.9) of 116 Malawi hospitals were emergency-equipped. Least available items were nasogastric tubes in 34.5% of hospitals (95% CI: 26.4-43.6), blood typing services (40.4, 95% CI: 31.9-49.6), micro nebulizers (50.9, 95% CI: 41.9-60.0), and radiology (54.2, 95% CI: 45.1-63.0). Nationally, the median travel time from non-equipped facilities to the nearest emergency-equipped hospital was 73 min (95% CI: 67-77) ranging 1-507 min. Approximately one-quarter (27%) of Malawians lived over 120 min from an emergency-equipped hospital with significantly better accessibility in Central than North and South regions (16% vs. 38 and 35%, p < 0.001).
The amount of ABHR used might not be sufficient to interrupt the chain of contamination of microorganisms; therefore, continuation of the intervention and surveillance is recommended.
Background Migrants are often more vulnerable to health issues compared to host populations, and particularly the women. Therefore, migrant women’s health is important in promoting health equity in society. Participation and empowerment are central concepts in health promotion and in community-based participatory research aimed at enhancing health. The aim of this study was to identify conditions for health promotion together with women migrants through a community-based participatory research approach. Methods A community-based participatory research approach was applied in the programme Collaborative Innovations for Health Promotion in a socially disadvantaged area in Malmö, Sweden, where this study was conducted. Residents in the area were invited to participate in the research process on health promotion. Health promoters were recruited to the programme to encourage participation and a group of 21 migrant women participating in the programme were included in this study. A qualitative method was used for the data collection, namely, the story-dialogue method, where a process involving issue, reflections and actions guided the dialogues. The material was partly analysed together with the women, inspired by the second-level synthesis. Results Two main health issues, mental health and long-term pain, were reflected upon during the dialogues, and two main themes were elaborated in the process of analysis: Prioritising spare time to promote mental health and Collaboration to address healthcare dissatisfaction related to long-term pain. The women shared that they wanted to learn more about the healthcare system, and how to complain about it, and they also saw the togetherness as a strategy along the way. A decision was made to start a health circle in the community to continue collaboration on health promotion. Conclusions The community-based participatory research approach and the story dialogues constituted an essential foundation for the empowerment process. The health circle provides a forum for further work on conditions for health promotion, as a tool to support migrant women’s health.
Background: Acutely sick children in resource-constrained settings who present with hypoglycaemia have poor outcomes. Studies have questioned the current hypoglycaemia treatment cut-off level of 2.5 mmol/l. Improved knowledge about health workers’ attitudes towards and management of hypoglycaemia is needed to understand the potential effects of a raised cut-off level. Objective: This research explored health workers’ perceptions about managing acutely ill children with hypoglycaemia in a Malawian referral hospital. A secondary objective was to explore health workers’ opinions about a potential increase in the hypoglycaemia cut-off level. Methods: We used a qualitative design with semi-structured individual interviews performed with health workers in the Paediatric Accident and Emergency Unit at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Malawi, in October 2016. Data were analysed using latent content analysis. Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Malawi, College of Medicine Research and Ethics Committee P.01/16/1852. Results: Four themes were formed that described the responses. The first, ‘Critical and difficult cases need easy treatment’, showed that health workers perceived hypoglycaemia as a severe condition that was easily manageable. The second, ‘Health system issues’, revealed challenges relating to staffing and resource availability. The third, ‘From parental reluctance to demand’, described a change in parents’ attitudes regarding intravenous treatments. The fourth, ‘Positive about the change but need more information’, exposed health workers’ concerns about potential risks of a raised cut-off level for hypoglycaemia treatment, as well as benefits for the patients. Conclusions: Health workers perceived hypoglycaemia as a severe condition that is easy to manage when the required equipment and supplies are available. Due to the common lack of test equipment and dextrose supplies, health workers have adopted alternative strategies to diagnose and manage hypoglycaemia. A change to the hypoglycaemia treatment cut-off level raised concerns about potential risks, but was also thought to be of benefit for some patients.
Background Emergency care is among the weakest parts of health systems in low-income countries with both quality and accessibility constraints. Previous studies estimated accessibility to surgical or emergency care based on population travel times to nearest hospital with no assessment of hospital readiness to provide such care. We analysed a Malawi national facility census with comprehensive inventory audits and geocoded facility locations to identify hospitals equipped to provide basic paediatric emergency care with estimated travel times to these hospitals from non-equipped facilities and in relation to Malawi’s population distribution. Methods We analysed a Malawi national facility census in 2013-2014 to identify hospitals equipped to manage critically ill children according to an extended version of WHO Emergency Triage, Assessment and Treatment (ETAT) guidelines. These guidelines include 25 components including staff, transport, equipment, diagnostics, medications, fluids, feeds and consumables that defined an emergency-equipped hospital in our study. We estimated travel times to emergency-equipped hospitals from non-equipped facilities and relative to population distributions using geocoded facility locations and an established accessibility mapping approach using global road network datasets from OpenStreetMap and Google. Results Four (3.5%, 95% CI: 1.3-8.9) of 116 Malawi hospitals were emergency-equipped. Least available items were nasogastric tubes in 34.5% of hospitals (95% CI: 26.4-43.6), blood typing services (40.4%, 95% CI: 31.9-49.6), micro nebulizers (50.9%, 95% CI: 41.9-60.0), and radiology (54.2%, 95% CI: 45.1-63.0). Nationally, the median travel time from non-equipped facilities to the nearest emergency-equipped hospital was 73 minutes (95% CI: 67-77) ranging 1-507 minutes. Approximately one-quarter (27%) of Malawians lived over 120 minutes from an emergency-equipped hospital with significantly better accessibility in Central than North and South regions (16% vs. 38% and 35%, p<0.001). Conclusions There are unacceptable deficiencies in accessibility of basic paediatric emergency care in Malawi. Reliable supply chains for essential drugs and commodities are needed, particularly nasogastric tubes, asthma drugs and blood, along with improved capacity for time-sensitive referral. Further child mortality reductions will require substantial investments to expand basic paediatric emergency care into all Malawi hospitals for better managing critically ill children at highest mortality risk.
Background: The presence of low or hypo glycaemia in children upon admission to hospital in low income countries is a marker for poor outcome. Fasting during illness may contribute to low blood glucose and caretakers' feeding practices during childhood illnesses may thus play a role in the development of low or hypo glycaemia. This study aims to describe the caretaker's feeding practices and association of fasting with low or hypo glycaemia in sick children in Malawi. Methods: A mixed method approach was used combining quantitative cross-sectional data for children aged 0-17 years admitted to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), a tertiary hospital in Malawi, with qualitative focus group discussions conducted with caretakers of young children who were previously referred to QECH from the five health centres around QECH. Logistic regression was used to analyse the quantitative data and thematic content analysis was conducted for qualitative data analysis. Results: Data for 5131 children who were admitted through the hospital's Paediatric Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) were analysed whereof 2.1% presented with hypoglycaemia (< 2.5 mmol/l) and 6.6% with low glycaemia (≥2.5mmoll/l-< 5 mmol/l). Fasting for more than eight hours was associated with low glycaemia as well as hypoglycaemia with Adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) of 2.9 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) of 2.3-3.7) and 4.6, (95% CI 3.0-7.0), respectively. Caretakers demonstrated awareness of the importance of feeding during childhood illness and reported intensified feeding attention to sick children but face feeding challenges when illness becomes severe causing them to seek care at a health facility. Conclusion: Results suggests that caretakers understand the importance of feeding during illness and make efforts to intensify feeding a sick child but challenges occur when illness is severe leading to fasting. Fasting among children admitted to hospitals may serve as a marker of severe illness and determine those at risk of low and hypoglycaemia.
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