Globally, frontline health care providers are among the most affected population group by the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing the factors contributing to the transmission of COVID-19 infection among frontline health care providers is essential for implementing tailored control measures and protecting this vital population group. This study aimed to estimate the proportion and to identify factors associated with COVID-19 infection among medical doctors in Sudan. A web-based survey was used to collect data from medical doctors who were working in Sudan during the study period. Data were analyzed using SPSS® version 25; Descriptive analysis in terms of means (SD) for continuous variables, frequencies, and percentages with 95% CI for the categorical variable was conducted. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression for associations between the outcome variables (risk of exposure to COVID-19 infection and ever tested positive for COVID-19 infection) and independent variables (socio-demographic and infection control standards) were also performed. Out of 352 valid responses, 13.6% had tested positive for COVID-19 infection at least once during the pandemic. More than one-third have identified colleagues as the main sources of infection compared to 21% of patients (p-value < 0.04). Doctors who received training on COVID-19 were 60% less likely to have positive tests for COVID-19 (p-value <0.03), while lack of PPE and hand hygiene utilities had no statistically significant associations with testing positive for COVID-19 infection. In conclusion, a significant proportion of doctors have contracted COVID-19 infection from their colleagues. This calls for restricting infection control practices at hospitals, doctor’s doormats, and any other shared places that allow day-to-day interaction between doctors and their colleagues. Also, urgent need for training doctors on COVID-19 infection control practices as it has been identified as the key protective factor.
Background: Abuse of antibiotics is a major contributing factor to the emergence of antibiotic resistance (ABR) globally. Misuse and overuse of antibiotics is common also in Sudan. Addressing antibiotic use is a key component of AMR response.Objectives: The project aimed to develop a theory driven behavior change strategy based on local understanding of drivers of antibiotic use at primary healthcare settings in Gezira State in Sudan. The strategy is needed to enhance the prescribers’ appropriate prescription of antibiotics and to reduce the patient’s demand towards unnecessary antibiotics.Methods: The strategy was designed based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify behavioral barriers and the Behavior Change Wheel to select appropriate behavior change techniques (BCTs). The process included two major elements (1) a formative qualitative research study using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews targeting prescribers and patients. (2) a knowledge co-production workshop that utilized the results of the qualitative study and aimed to design a salient, legitimate and credible behavior change strategy identifying relevant behavior change techniques (BCTs) to overcome key barriers.Results: The main TDF domains that emerged from the discussions with prescribers were knowledge of antibiotics and AMR, skills to answer patient demand on antibiotics, prescription habits and work exhaustion, social influences, intention to change prescription practices and environmental factors. The main TDF domains that emerged through discussions with patients were antibiotic use habits, social influences, professional role belief in capabilities and intention to change. The workshop discussions resulted in the selection of five BTCs that included education, training, modeling, enablement and persuasion.Conclusion: This study, using the TDF and BCW taxonomy, explored the fact that antibiotic prescribing is influenced by many social and contextual factors. Knowledge co- production offered real benefits in addressing these complexities to come up with a set of context appropriate behavior change interventions.
Background: Abuse of antibiotics is a major contributing factor to the emergence of antibiotic resistance (ABR) globally. Misuse of antibiotics is common also in Sudan. Objectives: The project aimed to develop a theory driven behavior change strategy based on local understanding of drivers of antibiotic use at primary healthcare settings in Gezira State in Sudan. Methods: The strategy was designed based on the Theoretical Domains Framework to identify behavioral barriers and the Behavior Change Wheel to select appropriate behavior change techniques The process included (1) a formative qualitative research study (2) a knowledge co-production workshop that utilized the results of the qualitative study and aimed to design a salient, legitimate and credible behavior change strategy identifying relevant behavior change techniques (BCTs) to overcome key barriers. Results: The main TDF domains that emerged from the discussions were knowledge of antibiotics and AMR, skills to answer patient demand on antibiotics, prescription habits and work exhaustion, social influences, intention to change prescription practices and environmental factors. The main TDF domains that emerged through discussions with patients were antibiotic use habits, social influences, professional role belief in capabilities and intention to change. The workshop discussions resulted in the selection of five BTCs that included education, training, modeling, enablement and persuasion. Conclusion: This study, using the TDF and BCW taxonomy, identified that antibiotic prescribing is influenced by social and contextual factors. Knowledge co- production offered real benefits in addressing these complexities to come up with a set of context appropriate behavior change interventions.
Background Inappropriate use of antibiotics is a major contributing factor to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance globally, including in Sudan. Objectives The project aimed to develop a theory-driven behaviour change strategy addressing both prescribers and patients based on factors that are driving antibiotic use in primary healthcare settings in Gezira state in Sudan. Methods The strategy was designed based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify behavioural domains and the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) to select appropriate intervention functions. The process included (1) a formative qualitative research study and (2) a knowledge co-production workshop that utilized the results of the qualitative study to design a salient, appropriate, and credible behaviour change strategy. Results The TDF domains related to prescribers that emerged from the study included knowledge, skills, and intention. The selected BCW intervention functions included education, training, modelling, and persuasion. The main TDF domains related to patients included social influences and intention. The selected BCW intervention functions included enablement and education. Conclusion Using the TDF and BCW intervention functions, the study identified behavioural domains that influence antibiotic prescription and consumption in rural primary healthcare settings in Gezira state in Sudan and appropriate intervention functions to modify these behaviours. Knowledge co-production ensured that the evidence-based strategy was acceptable and practical in the local context.
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