Determinants of trends in reported antibiotic use among sick children under five years of age across low-income and middle-income countries in 2005-17: a systematic analysis of user characteristics based on 132 national surveys from 73 countries

IntroductionAlthough global birth registration coverage has improved from 58% to 71% among children under five globally, inequities in birth registration coverage by wealth, urban/rural location, maternal education and access to a health facility persist. Few studies examine whether inequities in birth registration in low-income and middle-income countries have changed over time.MethodsWe combined information on caregiver reported birth registration of 1.6 million children in 173 publicly available, nationally representative Demographic Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys across 67 low-income and middle-income countries between 1999 and 2016. For each survey, we calculated point estimates and 95% CIs for the percentage of children under 5 years without birth registration on average and stratified by sex, urban/rural location and wealth. For each sociodemographic variable, we estimated absolute measures of inequality. We then examined changes in non-registration and inequities between surveys, and annually.Results14 out of 67 countries had achieved complete birth registration. Among the remaining 53 countries, 39 countries successfully decreased the percentage of children without birth registration. However, this reduction occurred alongside statistically significant increases in wealth inequities in 9 countries and statistically significant decreases in 10 countries. At the most recent survey, the percentage of children without birth registration was greater than 50% in 16 out of 67 countries.ConclusionAlthough birth registration improved on average, progress in reducing wealth inequities has been limited. Findings highlight the importance of monitoring changes in inequities to improve birth registration, to monitor Sustainable Development Goal 16.9 and to strengthen Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems.

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The quality of malaria care in 25 low-income and middle-income countries

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002023 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. e002023 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Erlyn Macarayan ◽

Irene Papanicolas ◽

Ashish Jha

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Care ◽

Low Income ◽

Poor Quality ◽

Care Quality ◽

Middle Income ◽

Children Under Five ◽

Treatment Cascade ◽

Under Five ◽

Middle Income Countries

IntroductionEven with accessible and effective diagnostic tests and treatment, malaria remains a leading cause of death among children under five. Malaria case management requires prompt diagnosis and correct treatment but the degree to which this happens in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains largely unknown.MethodsCross-sectional study of 132 566 children under five, of which 25% reported fever in the last 2 weeks from 2006 to 2017 using the latest Malaria Indicators Survey data across 25 malaria-endemic countries. We calculated the per cent of patient encounters of febrile children under five that received poor quality of care (no blood testing, less or more than two antimalarial drugs and delayed treatment provision) across each treatment cascade and region.ResultsAcross the study countries, 48 316 (58%) of patient encounters of febrile children under five received poor quality of care for suspected malaria. When comparing by treatment cascade, 62% of cases were not blood tested despite reporting fever in the last 2 weeks, 82% did not receive any antimalarial drug, 17% received one drug and 72% received treatment more than 24 hours after onset of fever. Of the four countries where we had more detailed malaria testing data, we found that 35% of patients were incorrectly managed (26% were undertreated, while 9% were overtreated). Poor malaria care quality varies widely within and between countries.ConclusionQuality of malaria care remains poor and varies widely in endemic LMICs. Treatments are often prescribed regardless of malaria test results, suggesting that presumptive diagnosis is still commonly practiced among cases of suspected malaria, rather than the WHO recommendation of ‘test and treat’. To reach the 2030 global malaria goal of reducing mortality rates by at least 90%, focussing on improving the quality of malaria care is needed.

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PP124 Health Technology Assessment And Feedback For Healthy Workplace Culture In Malaria Care In Low And Middle Income Countries

International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care ◽

10.1017/s026646231800260x ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (S1) ◽

pp. 114-114

Author(s):

Patrick Okwen ◽

Raphael Cheabum ◽

Etienne Che ◽

Joy Ngwemsi Mbunu ◽

Miriam Nkangu

Keyword(s):

Workplace Culture ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Middle Income ◽

Mortality And Morbidity ◽

Children Under Five ◽

Under Five ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Percent Improvement ◽

Evidence Based Care ◽

Low And Middle Income

Introduction:Malaria is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in children under five in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Management of malaria in children under five years of age is challenging. One challenge faced by clinical practice in LMICs is lack of evidence to guide practice. This challenge is further compounded by different training backgrounds of team members. In the management of malaria in Cameroon, conflicts usually arise between clinicians, lab technicians and pharmacists resulting in over diagnosis and treatment of malaria. The patient's view is usually not considered. This leads to over diagnosis and over prescriptions for malaria in children under five years of age.Methods:We used the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) approach of getting research into practice to organize stakeholder meetings, assess existing evidence in malaria care, develop evidence criteria for management based on levels of evidence, assess the gamut of care for malaria, provide feedback to clinicians and re-assess practice. We used the JBI practical application of clinical evidence system (PACES) and getting research into practice (GRiP) evidence implementation tools in the process to facilitate teamwork, collaboration on evidence and provide feedback.Results:A collaborative approach to assessments and feedback including all healthcare stakeholders significantly improved workplace culture of evidence-based care and staff-to-staff relationships as well as staff-to-patient relationships. Over a period of twelve months, we reported eighty-four percent fewer conflicts between staff and ninety-eight percent fewer conflicts between staff and patients. For malaria management, overall criteria showed a thirty-one percent improvement in compliance with best practice recommendations with evidence levels of Grade 1.Conclusions:The project demonstrated that local leadership and evidence-based care can significantly improve practice in resource limited settings.

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Efficacy of deep learning methods for predicting under-five mortality in 34 low-income and middle-income countries

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034524 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. e034524

Author(s):

Adeyinka Emmanuel Adegbosin ◽

Bela Stantic ◽

Jing Sun

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Deep Learning ◽

Low Income ◽

Maternal Education ◽

Household Wealth ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Middle Income ◽

Under Five ◽

Middle Income Countries

ObjectivesTo explore the efficacy of machine learning (ML) techniques in predicting under-five mortality (U5M) in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) and to identify significant predictors of U5M.DesignThis is a cross-sectional, proof-of-concept study.Settings and participantsWe analysed data from the Demographic and Health Survey. The data were drawn from 34 LMICs, comprising a total of n=1 520 018 children drawn from 956 995 unique households.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcome measure was U5M; secondary outcome was comparing the efficacy of deep learning algorithms: deep neural network (DNN); convolution neural network (CNN); hybrid CNN-DNN with logistic regression (LR) for the prediction of child’s survival.ResultsWe found that duration of breast feeding, number of antenatal visits, household wealth index, postnatal care and the level of maternal education are some of the most important predictors of U5M. We found that deep learning techniques are superior to LR for the classification of child survival: LR sensitivity=0.47, specificity=0.53; DNN sensitivity=0.69, specificity=0.83; CNN sensitivity=0.68, specificity=0.83; CNN-DNN sensitivity=0.71, specificity=0.83.ConclusionOur findings provide an understanding of determinants of U5M in LMICs. It also demonstrates that deep learning models are more efficacious than traditional analytical approach.

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Centre-based day care for children under five in low- and middle-income countries

10.1002/14651858.cd010543 ◽

2013 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Taylor W Brown ◽

Felix C Van Urk ◽

Rebecca Waller ◽

Evan Mayo-Wilson

Keyword(s):

Day Care ◽

Middle Income ◽

Children Under Five ◽

Under Five ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Low And Middle Income

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Understanding antimicrobial use in subsistence farmers in Chikwawa District Malawi, implications for public awareness campaigns

10.31235/osf.io/e7b6n ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Eleanor MacPherson ◽

Joanna Reynolds ◽

Esnart Sanudi ◽

Alexander Nkaombe ◽

John Mankhomwa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Antibiotic Use ◽

Subsistence Farming ◽

Formal Sector ◽

Middle Income ◽

The Public ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Awareness Campaigns ◽

The Right

Drug resistant infections are increasing across the world and urgent action is required to preserve current classes of antibiotics. Antibiotic use practices in low-and-middle-income countries have gained international attention, especially as antibiotics are often accessed beyond the formal health system. Public awareness campaigns have gained popularity, often conceptualising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a problem of excess, precipitated by irrational behaviour. Insufficient attention has been paid to people’s lived experiences of accessing medicines in low-income contexts. In Chikwawa District, Malawi, a place of extreme scarcity, our study aimed to understand the care and medicine use practices of households dependent on subsistence farming. Adopting an anthropological approach, we undertook medicine interviews (100), ethnographic fieldwork (six-month period) and key informant interviews (33) with a range of participants in two villages in rural Chikwawa. The most frequently used drugs were cotrimoxazole and amoxicillin, not considered to be of critical importance to human health. Participants recognised that keeping, sharing, and buying medicines informally was not the “right thing.” However, they described using antibiotics and other medicines in these ways due to conditions of extreme precarity, the costs and limitations of seeking formal care in the public sector, and the inevitability of future illness. Our findings emphasise the need in contexts of extreme scarcity to equip policy actors with interventions to address AMR through strengthening health systems, rather than public awareness campaigns that foreground overuse and the dangers of using antibiotics beyond the formal sector.

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Antibiotic Use for Febrile Illness among Under-5 Children in Bangladesh: A Nationally Representative Sample Survey

Antibiotics ◽

10.3390/antibiotics10101153 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 1153

Author(s):

Nora Samir ◽

Md. Zakiul Hassan ◽

Md. Abdullah Al Jubayer Biswas ◽

Fahmida Chowdhury ◽

Zubair Akhtar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Febrile Illness ◽

Antibiotic Use ◽

Educational Interventions ◽

Sample Survey ◽

Middle Income ◽

Children Under Five ◽

Under Five ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Medical Sector ◽

Nationally Representative

Fever in children under five years of age is a common and predominantly self-limiting sign of illness. However, in low- and middle-income countries, antibiotics are frequently used in febrile children, although these children may not benefit from antibiotics. In this study, we explored the prevalence of, and factors associated with, antibiotic use in children under five years old with febrile illness in Bangladesh. We analysed data from the 2017–2018 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey to determine the prevalence of antibiotic use in children under five years of age with a febrile illness. We used a causal graph and performed a multivariable logistical regression to identify the factors associated with antibiotic use in children under five years old with febrile illness in Bangladesh. Of the 2784 children aged less than five years with fever included in our analysis, 478 (17%, 95% CI 15% to 19%) received antibiotics. Unqualified sources, including unqualified providers and pharmacies, contributed to 60% of antibiotic prescriptions in children with fever, followed by the private medical sector (29%) and the public sector (23%). The highest use of antibiotics was found in children under six months of age (25%). Children with parents who completed secondary or higher education were more likely to receive antibiotics (adjusted OR (aOR): 2.61 (95% CI 1.63 to 4.16)) than children whose parents did not complete primary education. Educational interventions promoting rational use of antibiotics and improved regulations governing over the counter purchase of antibiotics in Bangladesh may improve antibiotic dispensing practices.

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