In Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the laboratory TAT is significantly very long and do not comply with either international standards or the suggestions of customers. However, there is neither a national nor a local strategy to improve the laboratory TAT. The aim of the present study is to develop practical management strategies to shorten clinical laboratory tests' TAT. This was a qualitative study conducted in Kinshasa. Focus groups and Lean tools were used respectively to generate a wide range of views from a variety of laboratory staff and to eliminate several form of waste in the laboratory flow process. Based on the identified root causes of delay, focus groups participants reported that there is a lot of scope for the improvement of TAT in DRC. Consistent attendance and punctuality are essential. The hospital management should implement the Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) and install Middleware. Total laboratory automation, inventory system for all reagents and supplies used in the laboratory, expansion of the sampling area,
In clinical laboratory, monitoring customers' satisfaction is required by laboratory quality standards, such as ISO15189:2012 and ISO17025:2017. However, there is no reliable and valid scale to measure clinical laboratory customers' satisfaction in DRC. This study aims to develop a theoretical and operational instrument for measuring customer satisfaction with clinical laboratory services. In order to develop a reliable and valid measurement tool, the general methodological approach recommended by Churchill was followed. The developed questionnaire was checked for reliability and validity using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to determine whether the hypothesis of the conceptual framework is acceptable in measuring customer satisfaction. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) results showed a three-dimensionality of Customer
Background: Human parvovirus B19 (PVB19) is a cosmopolitan DNA virus transmissible parenterally by blood transfusion. Therefore, the risk of transmission through asymptomatic blood donors should be considered and appropriately managed worldwide. PVB19 screening of blood and blood products for transfusion is not done routinely in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The main objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of PVB19 infection in healthy eligible blood donors in Kinshasa, capital of the DRC, located in the western part of the DRC, and the association of infection with the sociodemographic characteristics of blood donors. Materials and Methods: A total of 360 whole blood donors who attended the National Center of Blood Transfusion were examined for anti-PVB19 IgG and IgM antibodies by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Sociodemographic information was collected on the blood donors. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 21.Results: Among the study group, 289 men and 52 women were infected with PVB19.The mean age was 32.7 ± 9.8 years, 48.6% of donors were positive only for PVB19 IgG antibodies while 40.8% were positive for both IgG and IgM antibodies. In addition, 5.3% were positive only for PVB19 IgM antibodies and so were considered as a potential group of PVB19 transfusion-transmission. PVB19 seropositivity was significantly associated with sex, with a higher prevalence in men. In multivariate analysis, male sex and Tshangu district have emerged as major factors associated to PVB19 seropositivity.Conclusions: This research showed that recipients of blood and blood products in Kinshasa are at a high risk (5.3%) of transfusion-transmitted PVB19 infection.Therefore, the implementation of PVB19 nucleic acid testing assays capable of detecting all PVB19 genotypes and discard donations with high titer PVB19 DNA for blood products seems to be necessary.
K E Y W O R D Sblood product safety, donors, parvovirus B19, prevalence, transfusion-transmitted virus 2479-3984
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