Accessibility of Point-of-Care Diagnostic Services for Maternal Health in Lower Healthcare Facilities in Northern Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Author(s):  
Desmond Kuupiel ◽  
Boikhutso Tlou ◽  
Vitalis Bawontuo ◽  
Tivani P. Mashamba-Thompson
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-94
Author(s):  
Busari Olusegun

Without access to life-saving drugs, including antiretroviral, about one-third of HIV exposed infants (HEI) will die by age 1 year and 50% by age 2 years. A 75% reduction in disease progression and 76% reduction in HIV mortality in infants has been attributed to early diagnosis of HIV and early commencement on ART. Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) of HIV aids timely commencement on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Several challenges have been identified with the current process. Point of care (POC) technologies are recommended as a veritable means of addressing these challenges and improving EID uptake. With the aim of assessing the standard of care and the acceptability of POC for the provision of EID. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted across eight healthcare facilities in Nigeria. The survey was conducted among 72 healthcare workers using self-administered questionnaire; with a recovery rate of 61(84.7%). Analysis of participants’ responses indicate that 100% of the respondents believes there is a need for EID. Most respondent reported an average turnaround time (TAT) of 3-4 weeks (35.8%) and >6 weeks (34.0%). Most respondents identified distance to the PCR laboratories (45.7%) and long TAT (34.8%) as key issues affecting the conduct of EID. On the benefit of POC for EID; 90.2% of respondent believe it is beneficial; while 81.5% of respondent believe that with the introduction and use of POC for EID there will be an increase in EID uptake. The POC is a viable and acceptable alternative for EID to increase uptake.


2015 ◽  
Vol 91 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A84.3-A84
Author(s):  
Jeremy Horwood ◽  
Suzanne Ingle ◽  
David Burton ◽  
Adam Woodman-Bailey ◽  
Paddy Horner ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Priya Prabhakaran Nair ◽  
Leela Manju

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Smartphones have revolutionised medical practice including dermatology because of its multiple functions assisting practitioners at the point of care and beyond. We aimed to analyse the pattern of smartphone use by dermatologists and to explore their opinions and difficulties faced while using smartphone</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> This cross-sectional study included a population of dermatology consultants and residents in Kerala, India. A validated self-reported questionnaire was emailed to them using a survey tool to collect the data</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Overall 100 practitioners responded to the questionnaire with a response rate 10.6%. Consultants and residents accounted for 81% and 19% of the participants respectively. Females (78%) outnumbered males. Most (58.6%) belonged to age group 31-40 years. Everyone owned a smartphone with the most prevalent operating system (OS) being android (85.9%). Medical communication was done mostly using phone calls (92%). Drug reference (94%) was the most popular noncommunicative application. Most participants (85%) used smartphone camera for clinical photography. OS freezing was the biggest technical issue whereas inappropriate use and distraction were the biggest nontechnical challenges of smartphone use. Clinical photography was taken by 95% for disease monitoring with significantly higher usage in females. Those upto 40 years of age significantly took and shared clinical photographs for second opinion more than older ones. Only 17.2% with significantly higher males than females took written consent for photography.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Dermatologists use smartphone extensively for communication, information and photography with preferences varying with age, gender and level of training.</p>


Author(s):  
Herbert G. Masigati ◽  
Grant W. Potter ◽  
Masahiro J. Morikawa ◽  
Rashid S. Mfaume

Background: Rural hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from numerous disparities in resources and practices, and subsequently patient care is affected.Methods: In order to assess current practices and opportunities for improvement in pulse oximetry use and patient-care handoffs, a cross-sectional survey was administered to clinicians at a referral level hospital serving a large rural area in Shinyanga, Tanzania.Results: Respondents (n=46) included nurses (50%), medical doctors (48%), and clinical officers (2%). A response rate of 92% was achieved, and 81% of clinicians acknowledged routine difficulties in the use of current devices when obtaining pulse oximetry. Although 83% of respondents reported using a written handoff at shift change, information reporting was inconsistent and rarely included specific management guidance.Conclusions: Further research is needed to elucidate handoff practices in developing settings, but there is a large opportunity for novel point-of-care devices and tools to improve both pulse oximetry use and patient care handoffs in rural Africa.


Author(s):  
Lucius C. Imoh ◽  
Onyedika G. Okoye ◽  
Audu C. Abimiku ◽  
Alex O. Abu ◽  
Solomon A. Asorose ◽  
...  

Background: To determine the challenges in diagnostic support for adequate fluid and electrolyte (F/E) management in a poor-resource critical care setting.Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and May 2017 in one hundred and four (104) doctors practicing in four tertiary hospitals in North-central Nigeria. These doctors were currently working in Accidents and Emergency Units (A/E), Intensive care Units (ICU) and Children Emergency Units and have worked for at least two months prior to the study. They were given a structured questionnaire to fill and return. The questionnaire among other things, addressed laboratory-related factors that affect management of F/E disturbances.Results: Unavailability of some laboratory tests, inaccuracy of laboratory results, incomplete test results and delay in obtaining results, hampered F/E management in critical care according to more than 75% of the surveyed doctors. About sixty percent of the doctors reported a turnaround time (TAT) of ≥3 hours for electrolytes and most emergency biochemical tests (except urine dipstick and Blood gases). Also ≤25% of doctors responded that electrolytes and most emergency biochemical tests (except urine dipstick and Blood gases) were offered in the ICU/Emergency unit laboratories. Ten percent or less of doctors reported that electrolytes and the emergency biochemical test were available by Point of care testing (POCT).Conclusions: There is an urgent need for the managers of healthcare in LMICs to establish functional laboratories in ICUs, explore the use of POCT and build capacity for diagnostic critical care.


CJEM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. S66-S66
Author(s):  
D. Wiercigroch ◽  
S. Friedman ◽  
D. Porplycia ◽  
M. Ben-Yakov

Introduction: The use of regional anesthesia (RA) by emergency physicians (EPs) is expanding in frequency and range of application as expertise in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) grows, but widespread use remains limited. We sought to characterize the use of RA by Canadian EPs, including practices, perspectives and barriers to use in the ED. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of Canadian EPs was administered to members of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP), consisting of sixteen multiple choice and numerical responses. Responses were summarized descriptively as percentages and as the median and inter quartile range (IQR) for quantitative variables. Results: The survey was completed by 149/1144 staff EPs, with a response rate of 13%. EPs used RA a median of 2 (IQR 0-4) times in the past ten shifts. The most broadly used applications were soft tissue repair (84.5% of EPs, n = 126), fracture pain management (79.2%, n = 118) and orthopedic reduction (72.5%, n = 108). EPs agreed that RA is safe to use in the ED (98.7%) and were interested in using it more frequently (78.5%). Almost all (98.0%) respondents had POCUS available, however less than half (49.0%) felt comfortable using it for RA. EPs indicated that they required more training (76.5%), a departmental protocol (47.0%), and nursing assistance (30.2%) to increase their use. Conclusion: Canadian EPs engage in limited use of RA but express an interest in expanding their use. While equipment is available, additional training, protocols, and increased support from nursing staff are modifiable factors that could facilitate uptake of RA in the ED.


Author(s):  
Md. Rakibul Hoque ◽  
Adnan Albar ◽  
Jahangir Alam

E-Health is one of the solutions to provide better access for patients and physician to healthcare facilities. In developing countries, e-Health is particularly important due to a shortage of physician and medical workers. Although most physicians in developing countries like Bangladesh acknowledge the benefits of e-Health, low adoption is not uncommon. The objective of this study is to identify the critical factors affecting e-Health adoption among physicians in Bangladesh. A cross-sectional survey questionnaire method was used for this study. The structural equation modeling (SEM) with the partial least square (PLS) approach was used to analyze the data. The study found that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence and Personal Innovativeness had a significant impact on the behavioral intention to use e-Health, while Facilitating Conditions had no significant effect. The findings of this study will facilitate the degree of more acceptance of new technology by the physicians for their own betterment.


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