Abstract
IntroductionCritical care is essential in saving lives of critically ill patients, however, provision of critical care across lower resource settings can be costly, fragmented and heterogenous. Despite the urgent need to scale-up the provision of critical care, little is known about its availability and cost. Here, we aim to systematically review and identify reported resource use, availability and costs for the provision of critical care and the nature of critical care provision in Tanzania. Methods The systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines; PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020221923. We searched Medline, Embase and global health databases. We included studies that reported on provision of critical care, cost and availability of resources used in the provision of critical care published after 2010. Costs were adjusted and reported in 2019 USD and TZS using the world bank GDP deflators. ResultsA total 31 studies were found to fulfil the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Critical care identified in Tanzania was categorised into: ICU delivered critical care and non-ICU critical care. The availability of ICU delivered critical care was limited to urban settings whereas non-ICU critical care was found in rural and urban settings. 15 studies reported on the costs of services related to critical care yet no study reported an average or unit cost of critical care. Costs of medication, equipment (e.g. oxygen, PPE), services, and human resources were identified as inputs to specific critical care services in Tanzania. ConclusionThere is limited evidence on the resource use, availability and costs of critical care in Tanzania. There is a strong need for further empirical research on critical care resources availability, utilization and costs across specialties and hospitals of different level in LMICs like Tanzania to inform planning, priority setting and budgeting for critical care services.
Modelling improved efficiency in healthcare referral systems for the urban poor using a geo-referenced health facility data: the case of Sylhet City Corporation, Bangladesh
