IntroductionAccelerating progress in reducing child deaths is needed in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal child mortality target. This will require a focus on vulnerable children–including young children, those who are undernourished or with acute illnesses requiring hospitalization. Improving adherence to inpatient guidelines may be an important strategy to reduce child mortality, including among the most vulnerable. The aim of our assessment of nine sub-Saharan African and South Asian hospitals was to determine adherence to pediatric inpatient care recommendations, in addition to capacity for and barriers to implementation of guideline-adherent care prior to commencing the Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) Cohort study. The CHAIN Cohort study aims to identify modifiable risk factors for poor inpatient and post discharge outcomes above and beyond implementation of guidelines.MethodsHospital infrastructure, staffing, durable equipment, and consumable supplies such as medicines and laboratory reagents, were evaluated through observation and key informant interviews. Inpatient medical records of 2–23 month old children were assessed for adherence to national and international guidelines. The records of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) were oversampled to reflect the CHAIN study population. Seven core adherence indicators were examined: oximetry and oxygen therapy, fluids, anemia diagnosis and transfusion, antibiotics, malaria testing and antimalarials, nutritional assessment and management, and HIV testing.ResultsAll sites had facilities and equipment necessary to implement care consistent with World Health Organization and national guidelines. However, stockouts of essential medicines and laboratory reagents were reported to be common at some sites, even though they were mostly present during the assessment visits. Doctor and nurse to patient ratios varied widely. We reviewed the notes of 261 children with admission diagnoses of sepsis (17), malaria (47), pneumonia (70), diarrhea (106), and SAM (119); 115 had multiple diagnoses. Adherence to oxygen therapy, antimalarial, and malnutrition refeeding guidelines was >75%. Appropriate antimicrobials were prescribed for 75% of antibiotic-indicative conditions. However, 20/23 (87%) diarrhea and 20/27 (74%) malaria cases without a documented indication were prescribed antibiotics. Only 23/122 (19%) with hemoglobin levels meeting anemia criteria had recorded anemia diagnoses. HIV test results were infrequently documented even at hospitals with universal screening policies (66/173, 38%). Informants at all sites attributed inconsistent guideline implementation to inadequate staffing.ConclusionAssessed hospitals had the infrastructure and equipment to implement guideline-consistent care. While fluids, appropriate antimalarials and antibiotics, and malnutrition refeeding adherence was comparable to published estimates from low- and high-resource settings, there were inconsistencies in implementation of some other recommendations. Stockou...
BackgroundThe appropriate use of the Partograph allows early identification of labour related complications and prevents deaths. We, therefore, sought to determine the level of Partograph completion and healthcare worker perspectives towards its utilization.MethodsThis study had two components; a hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive chart review at the Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda and a qualitative study involving four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with ward nurses, midwives and postgraduate residents. Data from the FGDs were analyzed using thematic -content analysis in Open Code software. The quantitative data were summarized using descriptive statistical analysis, means and proportions.ResultsAmong the 355 Partographs reviewed, 79.1% had incomplete documentation of age, 52.7% gravidity, and 3.2% parity. In about 61%, the specific parameters for fetal monitoring, maternal monitoring and labour progress were incomplete. From the FGDs, the healthcare workers reported being unable to complete the Partographs due to the overwhelming numbers of expectant mothers and other staff responsibilities. Congestion in the maternity ward reduced the Partograph completion rates. The availability of other monitoring tools, limitation in skills, inadequate equipment and supplies, and the state of the mother at the presentation to the hospital all made Partograph use and completion challenging.ConclusionsThe majority of Partographs started by health workers were incomplete. The time required to document, health system challenges, status of mother at presentation, and the high workload undermined completion of the Partograph at this high volume facility.
BackgroundThe prevalence of HIV in Uganda is 7.3%, and yet nearly 40% of people living with HIV are unaware of their status. The current HIV testing policy which is strictly blood-based poses several challenges including: a need for high level laboratory skills, stringent waste disposal needs, and painful sample collection. It is envisaged that introduction of a rapid, painless HIV oral fluid test as a potential alternative is likely to increase the number of people testing. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy and acceptability of rapid HIV oral testing among adults attending Kisenyi Health Centre IV in Kampala.Methods and findingsWe conducted a cross-sectional study among 440 adults recruited consecutively at Kisenyi Health Centre IV from January to March 2016. The diagnostic accuracy of the HIV oral test was assessed by comparing to the national HIV serial testing algorithm. We also assessed for acceptability among patients and health care workers (HCWs) by triangulating responses from a structured questionnaire, three focus group discussions and seven key informant interviews. Acceptability was defined as willingness to take the test at the time of the study and intention for future use of the test if it was availed.The prevalence of HIV infection among study participants was 14.8%. The HIV oral fluid test was highly accurate with sensitivity of 100% (95% CI; 94.5–100.0), specificity of 100% (95% CI; 99.0–100.0), positive predictive value (PPV) of 100% (95% CI; 94.5–100.0) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 100% (95% CI; 99.0–100.0). Acceptability of HIV oral testing was also high at 87.0% (95% CI; 83.6–89.9). Participants preferred HIV oral testing because it was: pain free (91%, n = 399) and did not require blood draw (82%, n = 360).ConclusionThe HIV oral fluid test has high diagnostic accuracy and acceptability. HIV oral testing is a suitable addition to the national HIV testing strategies with the potential of increasing access to HIV testing services in Uganda.
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