scholarly journals Using Routine Health Information Data for Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuen Wai Hung ◽  
Klesta Hoxha ◽  
Bridget R. Irwin ◽  
Michael R. Law ◽  
Karen Ann Grépin
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Information System ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Information System ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Health Management Information System ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Abstract Background : Routine health information systems (RHISs) support resource allocation and management decisions at all levels of the health system, as well as strategy development and policy-making in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although RHIS data represent a rich source of information, such data are currently underused for research purposes, largely due to concerns over data quality. Given that substantial investments have been made in strengthening RHISs in LMICs in recent years and that there is a growing demand for more real-time data from researchers, this systematic review builds upon the existing literature to summarize the extent to which RHIS data have been used in peer-reviewed research publications. Methods : Using terms ‘routine health information system’, ‘health information system’, or ‘health management information system’ and a list of LMICs, four electronic peer-review literature databases were searched from inception to February 20 2019: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and EconLit. Articles were assessed for inclusion based on pre-determined eligibility criteria and study characteristics were extracted from included articles using a piloted data extraction form. Results : We identified 132 studies that met our inclusion criteria, originating in 37 different countries. Overall, the majority of the studies identified were from Sub-Saharan Africa and were published within the last five years. Malaria and maternal health were the most commonly studied health conditions, although a number of other health conditions and health services were also explored. Conclusions : Our study identified an increasing use of RHIS data for research purposes, with many studies applying rigorous study designs and analytic methods to advance program evaluation, monitoring and assessing services, and epidemiological studies in LMICs. RHIS data represent an underused source of data and should be made more available and further embraced by the research community in LMIC health systems.

scholarly journals Using Routine Health Information Data for Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuen Wai Hung ◽  
Klesta Hoxha ◽  
Bridget R. Irwin ◽  
Michael R. Law ◽  
Karen Ann Grépin
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Information System ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Information System ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Health Management Information System ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Abstract Background: Routine health information systems (RHISs) support resource allocation and management decisions at all levels of the health system, as well as strategy development and policy-making in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although RHIS data represent a rich source of information, such data are currently underused for research purposes, largely due to concerns over data quality. Given that substantial investments have been made in strengthening RHISs in LMICs in recent years and that there is a growing demand for more real-time data from researchers, this systematic review builds upon the existing literature to summarize the extent to which RHIS data have been used in peer-reviewed research publications. Methods: Using terms ‘routine health information system’, ‘health information system’, or ‘health management information system’ and a list of LMICs, four electronic peer-review literature databases were searched from inception to February 20 2019: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and EconLit. Articles were assessed for inclusion based on pre-determined eligibility criteria and study characteristics were extracted from included articles using a piloted data extraction form.Results: We identified 132 studies that met our inclusion criteria, originating in 37 different countries. Overall, the majority of the studies identified were from Sub-Saharan Africa and were published within the last five years. Malaria and maternal health were the most commonly studied health conditions, although a number of other health conditions and health services were also explored. Conclusions: Our study identified an increasing use of RHIS data for research purposes, with many studies applying rigorous study designs and analytic methods to advance program evaluation, monitoring and assessing services, and epidemiological studies in LMICs. RHIS data represent an underused source of data and should be made more available and further embraced by the research community in LMIC health systems.

scholarly journals Using Routine Health Information Data for Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuen Wai Hung ◽  
Klesta Hoxha ◽  
Bridget R. Irwin ◽  
Michael R. Law ◽  
Karen Ann Grépin
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Information System ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Information System ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Health Management Information System ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Abstract Background: Routine health information systems (RHISs) support resource allocation and management decisions at all levels of the health system, as well as strategy development and policy-making in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although RHIS data represent a rich source of information, such data are currently underused for research purposes, largely due to concerns over data quality. Given that substantial investments have been made in strengthening RHISs in LMICs in recent years and the growing demand for more real-time data from researchers, this systematic review builds upon the existing literature to summarize the extent to which RHIS data have been used in peer-reviewed research publications. Methods: Using terms ‘routine health information system’, ‘health information system’, or ‘health management information system’ and a list of LMICs, four electronic peer-review literature databases were searched from inception to February 20 2019: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and EconLit. Articles were assessed based on pre-determined eligibility criteria. Identified characteristics were extracted using a piloted data extraction form. Results: We identified 132 studies that met our inclusion criteria in 37 different countries. Overall, the majority of the studies identified were from Sub-Saharan African countries and were published in the last five years. Malaria and maternal health were the most commonly studied health conditions, although a number of other health conditions and health services were also explored. Conclusions: Our study identified an increasing use of RHIS data in research with many studies applying rigorous study designs and analytic methods to advance program evaluation, monitoring and assessment of services, and epidemiology in LMICs. RHIS data represent an underused source of data and should be further embraced by the research community to gain insights from LMIC health systems.

scholarly journals Improving quality and use of routine health information system data in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. e0239683
Author(s):  
Seblewengel Lemma ◽  
Annika Janson ◽  
Lars-Åke Persson ◽  
Deepthi Wickremasinghe ◽  
Carina Källestål
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Health Information System ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
System Data ◽  
Low And Middle Income

scholarly journals Using routine health information data for research in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuen W. Hung ◽  
Klesta Hoxha ◽  
Bridget R. Irwin ◽  
Michael R. Law ◽  
Karen A. Grépin
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

scholarly journals Cost and cost-effectiveness analysis of treatment for child undernutrition in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Rebecca G Njuguna ◽  
James A Berkley ◽  
Julie Jemutai
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Productivity Loss ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Child Undernutrition ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Background: Undernutrition remains highly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries, with sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia accounting for majority of the cases. Apart from the health and human capacity impacts on children affected by malnutrition, there are significant economic impacts to households and service providers. The aim of this study was to determine the current state of knowledge on costs and cost-effectiveness of child undernutrition treatment to households, health providers, organizations and governments in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods:  We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed studies in LMICs up to September 2019. We searched online databases including PubMed-Medline, Embase, Popline, Econlit and Web of Science. We identified additional articles through bibliographic citation searches. Only articles including costs of child undernutrition treatment were included. Results: We identified a total of 6436 articles, and only 50 met the eligibility criteria. Most included studies adopted institutional/program (45%) and health provider (38%) perspectives. The studies varied in the interventions studied and costing methods used with treatment costs reported ranging between US$0.44 and US$1344 per child. The main cost drivers were personnel, therapeutic food and productivity loss. We also assessed the cost effectiveness of community-based management of malnutrition programs (CMAM). Cost per disability adjusted life year (DALY) averted for a CMAM program integrated into existing health services in Malawi was $42. Overall, cost per DALY averted for CMAM ranged between US$26 and US$53, which was much lower than facility-based management (US$1344). Conclusion: There is a need to assess the burden of direct and indirect costs of child undernutrition to households and communities in order to plan, identify cost-effective solutions and address issues of cost that may limit delivery, uptake and effectiveness. Standardized methods and reporting in economic evaluations would facilitate interpretation and provide a means for comparing costs and cost-effectiveness of interventions.

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of Access to General Healthcare Services for People with Disabilities in Low and Middle Income Countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 1879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tess Bright ◽  
Hannah Kuper
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Healthcare Access ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Background: A systematic review was undertaken to explore access to general healthcare services for people with disabilities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: Six electronic databases were searched in February 2017. Studies comparing access to general healthcare services by people with disabilities to those without disabilities from LMICs were included. Eligible measures of healthcare access included: utilisation, coverage, adherence, expenditure, and quality. Studies measuring disability using self-reported or clinical assessments were eligible. Title, abstract and full-text screening and data extraction was undertaken by the two authors. Results: Searches returned 13,048 studies, of which 50 studies were eligible. Studies were predominantly conducted in sub-Saharan Africa (30%), Latin America (24%), and East Asia/Pacific (12%). 74% of studies used cross-sectional designs and the remaining used case-control designs. There was evidence that utilisation of healthcare services was higher for people with disabilities, and healthcare expenditure was higher. There were less consistent differences between people with and without disabilities in other access measures. However, the wide variation in type and measurement of disability, and access outcomes, made comparisons across studies difficult. Conclusions: Developing common metrics for measuring disability and healthcare access will improve the availability of high quality, comparable data, so that healthcare access for people with disabilities can be monitored and improved.

scholarly journals Barriers to access and utilization of healthcare by children with neurological impairments and disability in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Lucy W. Mwangi ◽  
Jonathan A. Abuga ◽  
Emma Cottrell ◽  
Symon M. Kariuki ◽  
Samson M. Kinyanjui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Financial Constraints ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Childhood Mortality ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Healthcare Resources ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Utilization Of Healthcare ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Background: Neurological impairments (NI) and disability are common among survivors of childhood mortality in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). We conducted a systematic review to examine the barriers limiting access and utilization of biomedical care by children and adolescents with NI in LMICs. Methods: We searched PubMed, Latin America and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, Global Index Medicus, and Google Scholar for studies published between 01/01/1990 and 14/11/2019 to identify relevant studies. We included all reports on barriers limiting access and utilization of preventive, curative, and rehabilitative care for children aged 0-19 years with NI in five domains: epilepsy, and cognitive, auditory, visual, and motor function impairment. Data from primary studies were synthesized using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, and we report a synthesized analysis of the barriers identified in the primary studies. Results: Our literature searches identified 3,074 reports of which 16 were included in the final analysis. Fourteen studies (87.5%) originated from rural settings in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Factors limiting access and utilization of healthcare services in >50% of the studies were: financial constraints (N=15, 93.8%), geographical inaccessibility (N=11, 68.8%), inadequate healthcare resources (N=11, 68.8%), inadequate education/awareness (N=9, 56.3%), and prohibitive culture/beliefs (N=9, 56.3%). Factors reported in <50% of the studies related to the attitude of the patient, health worker, or society (N=7, 43.8%), poor doctor-patient communication (N=5, 31.3%), physical inaccessibility (N=3, 18.8%), and a lack of confidentiality for personal information (N=2, 12.5%). Very few reports were identified from outside Africa preventing a statistical analysis by continent and economic level. Conclusions: Financial constraints, geographic inaccessibility, and inadequate healthcare resources were the most common barriers limiting access and utilization of healthcare services by children with NI in LMICs. PROSPERO registration: CRD42020165296 (28/04/2020)

scholarly journals Pattern of Severity of Road Traffic Injuries Among Pedestrians in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeraj Sharma ◽  
Mohan Bairwa ◽  
S. D. Gupta ◽  
D. K. Mangal
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Injury Severity ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Road Traffic Injuries ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Low And Middle Income

ABSTRACTBackgroundLow-and middle-income countries (LMICs) contribute about 93 per cent of road traffic injuries (RTIs) and deaths worldwide with a significant proportion of pedestrians (22 per cent). Various scales are used to assess the pattern of injury severity, which are useful in predicting the outcomes of RTIs. We conducted this systematic review to determine the pattern of RTI severity among pedestrians in LMICs.MethodsWe searched the electronic databases PubMed, CINHAL, CENTRAL, Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE, ProQuest and SciELO, and examined the references of the selected studies. Original research articles published on the RTI severity among pedestrians in LMICs during 1997-2016 were eligible for this review. Quality of publications was assessed using an adapted Newcastle-Ottawa Scale of observational studies. Findings of this study were presented as a meta-summary.ResultsFive articles from 3 LMICs were eligible for the systematic review. Abbreviated Injury Score, Glasgow Coma Scale and Maxillofacial Injury Severity Score were used to assess the injury severity in the selected studies. In a multicentric study from China (2013), 21, 38 and 19 per cent pedestrians with head injuries had AIS scores 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6, respectively. In another study from China (2010), the proportion of AIS score 1-2 and AIS score 3 and above (serious to un-survivable) injuries occurred due to crash with sedan cars were 65 and 35 per cent, respectively. Such injuries due to minivan crashes were 49.5 per cent and 50.5 per cent, respectively. Two studies Ikeja, Nigeria (2014) and Elazig, Turkey (2009) presented, 24.5 and 32.5 per cent injured had a severe head injury (GCS < 8), respectively. In another study from Ibadan, Nigeria (2014), the severe maxillofacial injuries were seen in the victims of car/minibus pedestrian crashes 46 per cent, and 17 per cent had a fatal outcome.ConclusionA varied percent of pedestrians (24.5 to 57 percent) had road traffic injuries of serious to fatal nature, depending on type of collision and injury severity scale. This study pressed the need to conduct studies with a robust methodology on the pattern of RTI severity among pedestrians to guide the programme managers, researchers and policymakers in LMICs to formulate the policies and programmes to save the pedestrian lives.African relevancePrior RTI research reveals that pedestrians and cyclists were at the highest risk of fatality of in Sub-Saharan Africa, whereas motorcyclists had significantly higher fatality rates in Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand (1–3).Fifty-seven type of injury severity scoring systems have been developed to assess the injury severity for triage and timely decision making for patient treatment need, outcome prediction, quality of trauma care, and epidemiological research and evaluation (4,5).We found two studies from sub-Saharan Africa in this review which showed that severe pedestrian injuries ranged from 24.5 to 46 per cent of total pedestrian RTIs.Despite the findings of review affected by limited and variegated sample, it could be useful to guide for future research.

scholarly journals Cost and cost-effectiveness analysis of treatment for child undernutrition in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Rebecca G Njuguna ◽  
James A Berkley ◽  
Julie Jemutai
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Productivity Loss ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Child Undernutrition ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Background: Undernutrition remains highly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries, with sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia accounting for majority of the cases. Apart from the health and human capacity impacts on children affected by malnutrition, there are significant economic impacts to households and service providers. The aim of this study was to determine the current state of knowledge on costs of child undernutrition treatment to households, health providers, organizations and governments in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods:  We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed studies in LMICs up to September 2019. We searched online databases including PubMed-Medline, Embase, Popline, Econlit and Web of Science. We identified additional articles through bibliographic citation searches. Only articles including costs of child undernutrition treatment were included. Results: We identified a total of 6436 articles, and only 50 met the eligibility criteria. Most included studies adopted  institutional/program (45%) and health provider (38%) perspectives. The studies varied in the interventions studied and costing methods used with treatment costs reported ranging between US$0.44 and US$1344 per child. The main cost drivers were personnel, therapeutic food and productivity loss. Conclusion: There is a need to assess the burden of direct and indirect costs of child undernutrition to households and communities in order to plan, identify cost-effective solutions and address issues of cost that may limit delivery, uptake and effectiveness. Standardized methods and reporting in economic evaluations would facilitate interpretation and provide a means for comparing costs and cost-effectiveness of interventions.

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