BACKGROUND: Healthcare is a knowledge driven process and thus knowledge management and the tools to manage knowledge in healthcare sector are gaining attention. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate knowledge management implementation and knowledge management tools used in healthcare for informed decision making. METHODS: Three databases, two journals websites and Google Scholar were used as sources for the review. The key terms used to search relevant articles include: "Healthcare and Knowledge Management"; "Knowledge Management Tools in Healthcare" and "Community of Practices in healthcare". RESULTS: It was found that utilization of knowledge management in healthcare is encouraging. There exist numbers of opportunities for knowledge management implementation, though there are some barriers as well. Some of the opportunities that can transform healthcare are advances in health information and communication technology, clinical decision support systems, electronic health record systems, communities of practice and advanced care planning. CONCLUSION: Providing the right knowledge at the right time, i.e., at the point of decision making by implementing knowledge management in healthcare is paramount. To do so, it is very important to use appropriate tools for knowledge management and user-friendly system because it can significantly improve the quality and safety of care provided for patients both at hospital and home settings. KEYWORDS: Knowledge management, tools, evidence-based medical practice, healthcare, informed decision making

Tuberculosis, in particular drug-resistant tuberculosis, is of global concern due to the high mortality and morbidity associated with it annually. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of and the risk factors for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Iran and its neighboring countries. Four databases (PubMed, BioMed Central, EMBASE, and Web of Science) were searched using key terms. Nineteen eligible articles were identified, of which 12 and seven were used for quantitative and qualitative analysis, respectively. The overall pooled estimate of the prevalence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, including both new and previously treated tuberculosis cases, in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan was 16% (95% confidence interval [CI] 11-20). The patients with a previous tuberculosis treatment history (odds ratio [OR] = 6.45; 95% CI 5.12-7.79), those aged <45 years (OR = 1.57; 95% CI 1.12-2.03), and those who were males (OR = 1.83; 95% CI 1.19-2.48) had an increased pool risk of developing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. The forest plot revealed that the pooled odds for the development of multidrug- resistant tuberculosis were 2.01 (95% CI 1.65-2.36). Poor adherence to treatment was one of the predictors of unsuccessful treatment outcomes. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is a great concern for public health programs in many countries globally, including those included in this review. The risk factors for the development of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, specifically a previous tuberculosis treatment history, should be targeted through the implementation of specialized interventions.

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IntroductionAntitubercular drug resistance strain is a horrifying barrier to effective TB treatment and prevention. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence and geographical distribution of rifampicin-resistance M. tuberculosis (MTB) strains.MethodsWe searched two electronic databases, PubMed and EMBASE, until 26 March 2017 and updated our search on 27 April 2018 and accessed all prevalence studies of MTB strain and their drug susceptibility patterns to rifampicin. The pooled prevalence estimate was determined using random effects model.ResultsWe identified 23 studies satisfying the inclusion criteria. The proportion of rifampicin resistance strains was diverged depending on the type of strains, country and Regions. The pooled estimate of rifampicin-resistance strains of MTB for the included studies was 4% (95% CI: 3–5%). In subgroup analysis based on World Health Organization (WHO) Regions, the pooled estimate of rifampicin-resistance strains of MTB was 11% (95% CI: 9–13%) with the Western Pacific Region 24%, Europian Region 10%, South-East Asian Region 6%, African Region 3% and Region of American 1%. Beijing family was the most dominant strain resistance to rifampicin with pooled prevalence of 14% (95% CI: 10–18%). The pooled prevalence of other families, i.e. EAI, T, CAS, MANU, Haarlem, LAM and Ural, was ≤2% for each.ConclusionHigh burden of rifampicin resistance MTB strains was identified in the Western Pacific Region. Of these, Beijing family was predominantly resistance to rifampicin in Western Pacific Region and South-East Asian Region and also spread to European Region and Region of American.

Background There is a lack of comprehensive national data on prevalence, geographical distribution of different species, and temporal trends in soil-helminthiasis (STHs). Therefore, this study aimed to provide a summary and location of the available data on STHs infection among preschool and school-age children in Ethiopia. Methods The search was carried out in Medline via PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar on data published between 1997 to February 2020 for studies describing the rate of STHs infection among preschool and school-age in Ethiopian. We followed the Patient, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) approach to identify the studies. Meta-regression was performed to understand the trends and to summarize the prevalence using the “metaprop” command using STATA software version 14.0 Results A total of 29,311 of the 61,690 children examined during the period under review were infected with one or more species of intestinal parasites yielding an overall prevalence of 48% (95% CI: 43–53%). The overall pooled estimate of STHs was 33% (95% CI: 28–38%). The prevalence was 44% (95% CI: 31–58%) in SNNPR, 34% (95% CI: 28–41%) in Amhara region, 31% (95% CI: 19–43%) in Oromia region and 10% (95% CI: 7–12%) in Tigray region. Soil-transmitted helminths infection rate has been decreasing from 44% (95% CI: 30–57%) pre-Mass Drug Administration (MDA) era (1997–2012) to 30% (95% CI: 25–34%) post-MDA (2013–2020), although statistically not significant (p = 0.45). A lumbricoides was the predominant species with a prevalence of 17%. Conclusion Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region, Amhara, and Oromia regions carry the highest-burden and are categorized to Moderate Risk Zones (MRZ) and therefore, requiring MDA once annually with Albendazole or Mebendazole. The prevalence of STHs decreased after MDA compared to before MDA, but the decline was not statistically significant. A. lumbricoides was the predominant species of STHs among preschool and school-age children in Ethiopia. The high prevalence of STHs observed in this review, underscores the need for better control and prevention strategies in Ethiopia.

Knowledge plays a great role whenever there is change and growths follow a complex field and competitive. Agriculture in Ethiopia today is such field. Encouraging knowledge in this field is a critical point in the transformation of agricultural sector in Ethiopia. Also managing knowledge within the communities enhances agricultural development. Therefore the main aim of this study is to develop knowledge management strategy in managing indigenous knowledge of land use and agricultural development in western Ethiopia, Ilu Aba Bora zone which is crucial to enhance management of agricultural indigenous knowledge and land Data was collected using focus group discussion, questionnaire, information mapping from local communities, extension officers and land management officers of Ilu Aba Bora Zone. The result of the study revealed that local communities had various IK on land use and agricultural development. However, this knowledge was not acquired, developed, shared and preserved well. The major barriers to indigenous knowledge of land use and agricultural development in the local communities include poor knowledge sharing culture, lack of IK records, lack of trust, no interest to receive IK by younger generation, oral transfer of IK, change of life style and poor recognition of IK. Further research works are recommended to enhance management of indigenous knowledge of local communities.

Background: Comprehensive nationwide on prevalence, geographic distribution of different species and time trends of soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) are lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide a summary and location of the available data on STHs infection among preschool and school-age children in Ethiopia. Methods: The search were carried out in Medline via PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science and Google Scholar on data published between 1995 to Fabruary 2020 for studies describing rate of STHs infection among preschool and school-age in Ethiopian. We followed Patient, intervention, Comparsion and Outcome (PICO) approach to identify the studies. Endnote citation manager software version X9 for Windows was utilized to collect and organize search outcomes (into relevant and irrelevant studies) and for removal duplicate articles . We conducted meta-regression to understand the trends and the source of heterogeneity and pooled the prevalence using ‘metaprop’ command using STATA software version 14.Results: A total of 29,311 of the 61,690 children examined during the period under review were infected with one or more species of intestinal parasites yielding an overall prevalence of 48 % (95%CI: 43-53%). The overall pooled estimate of STHs was 33% (95% CI: 28-38%). The prevalence was 44% (95%CI : 31% - 58%) in SNNPR, 34%((95%CI : 28% - 41%) in Amhara region, 31% (95%CI : 19% - 43%) in Oromia region and 10% (95%CI : 7% - 12%) in Tigray region. Soil-transmitted helminths infection rate has been decreasing from 44% (95% CI:30-57%) pre-Mass Drug Administration (MDA) era (1997-2012) to 30% (95% CI:25-34%) post-MDA (2013-2020), although statistically not significant (p = 0.45). A. lumbricoides was the predominant species with a prevalence of 17%. Conclusion: Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region , Amhara and Oromia regions carry the highest burden and are categorized to Moderate Risk Zones (MRZ) and therefore, requiring mass drug administration (MDA) once annually with Albendazole or Mebendazole. Prevalence of SHTs decreased after MDA compared to before MDA, but the decline was not statistically significant. A. lumbricoides was the predominant species of STHs among preschool and school-age children in Ethiopia.

Tuberculosis is a very deadly disease worldwide, including in Ethiopia. TB is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which can cause pulmonary tuberculosis disease. Sputum smear microscopy is the most commonly used diagnostic tool in developing countries. The main purpose of this study is to develop a k-nearest neighbor classifier model for detecting PTB bacteria from sputum smear microscopic images. This study developed an algorithm based on the image processing technique to identify pulmonary tuberculosis bacilli in a digital image of a stained sputum smear. Thus, k-nearest neighbor classifiers were used to identify bacilli from sputum smear images in two classes: bacilli detect and non-bacilli detect. The total sample size of the image dataset of 180 from stained sputum images of PTB bacilli infected was obtained from Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI). The model's accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and F-measures then provided an average performance of 92.6%, which is the average performance of the prototype KNN model's sensitivity of 93%, specificity of 92%, and F-measure of 94.7%.