scholarly journals Prevalence of hearing loss at primary health care clinics in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Louw ◽  
De Wet Swanepoel ◽  
Robert H Eikelboom ◽  
Jannie Hugo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Health Care Clinics ◽  
Primary Health

scholarly journals Antimicrobial prescribing patterns in a group of private primary health care clinics in South Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Norah L Katende-Kyenda ◽  
Martie S Lubbe ◽  
Jan HP Serfontein ◽  
Ilse Truter
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Prescribing Patterns ◽  
Antimicrobial Prescribing ◽  
Health Care Clinics ◽  
Primary Health

The aim of this study was to investigate the prescribing of antimicrobials in private primary health care in South Africa. ABSTRAK Die doel met hierdie studie was om die voorskryfpatrone van antimikrobiese middels in private primêre gesondheidsorginrigtings in Suid-Afrika te ondersoek.

High-risk alcohol use and associated socio-demographic, health and psychosocial factors in patients with HIV infection in three primary health care clinics in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 651-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Huis in ‘t Veld ◽  
Supa Pengpid ◽  
Robert Colebunders ◽  
Linda Skaal ◽  
Karl Peltzer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Hiv Infection ◽  
Psychosocial Factors ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Health Care Clinics ◽  
Primary Health

Alcohol use may have a negative impact on the course of HIV disease and the effectiveness of its treatment. We studied patients with HIV who use alcohol and associated socio-demographic, health and psychosocial factors. Outcomes from this study may help in selecting patients from clinical practice with high-risk alcohol use and who are likely to benefit most from alcohol reduction interventions. In a cross sectional study in three primary health care clinics in Pretoria, South Africa, from January 2012 to June 2012, patients with HIV infection were interviewed and patients’ medical files were reviewed to obtain data on levels of alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test), patients’ socio-demographic characteristics, HIV-related information, health related quality of life (WHOQoL-HIVBref), internalized AIDS stigma, symptoms of depression and adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Analyses consisted of descriptive statistics, bi- and multivariate logistic regression models. A total of 2230 patients (1483 [66.5%] female) were included. The median age was 37 years (interquartile range 31–43), 99.5% were black Africans, 1975 (88.6%) had started ART and the median time on ART was 22 months (interquartile range 9–40). No alcohol was used by 64% of patients, 8.9% were low risk drinkers, 25.1% of patients were hazardous or harmful drinkers and 2.0% had possible alcohol dependence. In multivariate analysis high-risk drinking was positively associated with male gender, never being married, tobacco use, a higher score for the ‘level of independence’-domain measured with the WHOQoL-HIVBref questionnaire, and with more depressive symptoms compared to low-risk drinking. This study shows a high prevalence of hazardous or harmful drinking in patients with HIV infection (especially men) attending primary health care clinics in South Africa. Routine screening for alcohol use should be introduced in these clinics and harm reduction interventions should be evaluated, taking into account associated factors.

scholarly journals Self-Reported Hearing Loss and Pure Tone Audiometry for Screening in Primary Health Care Clinics

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 215013271880315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Louw ◽  
De Wet Swanepoel ◽  
Robert H Eikelboom
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Pure Tone Audiometry ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Test Accuracy ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Health Care Clinics ◽  
Primary Health

Objective: To evaluate the performance of self-reported hearing loss alone and in combination with pure tone audiometry screening in primary health care clinics in South Africa. Design: Nonprobability purposive sampling was used at 2 primary health care clinics. A total of 1084 participants (mean age 41.2 years; SD 15.5 years; range 16-97 years, 74.0% female) were screened using self-report and audiometry screening. Those failing audiometric screening and a sample of those who passed audiometric screening were also assessed by diagnostic pure time audiometry, to confirm or negate the finding of a hearing loss. Results: Four hundred and thirty-six participants (40.2%) self-reported a hearing loss with no significant association with gender or race. One hundred and thirty-six participant (12.5%) self-reported hearing loss and failed audiometry screening (35 dB HL at 1, 2, and 4 kHz). Combining self-report with a second stage audiometry screening revealed a high test accuracy (81.0%) for hearing loss, being most accurate (86.1%) to identify high-frequency hearing loss. Conclusion: While self-report of hearing loss is an easy and time-efficient screening method to use at primary health care clinics, its accuracy may be limited when used in isolation and it may not be sufficiently sensitive to detect hearing loss. Combining a simple audiometry screening as a second-stage screen can significantly improve overall performance and efficiency of the screening protocol.

scholarly journals WASH infrastructure and practices in primary health care clinics in the rural Vhembe District municipality in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Potgieter ◽  
N. T. Banda ◽  
P. J. Becker ◽  
A. N. Traore-Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Health Care Facilities ◽  
World Health ◽  
Primary Health Care System ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Health Care Clinics ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Vhembe District

Abstract Background South Africa has unique and diverse social and economic factors that have an impact on the provision of basic water, sanitation, hygiene and waste management infrastructure and practices at health care facilities in ensuring patient safety and prevent the spread of diseases. Methods The aim of this study was to evaluate water, sanitation and hygiene access and standards at 50 government owned public health care clinics in the rural region of the Vhembe district of South Africa during 2016/2017, using self-observation, an observation checklist, record reviews and interviews with clinic managers. Water quality from all available water sources on the clinic compound was analysed for Total coliform and E. coli counts using the Colilert Quanti-tray/2000 system. The prevalence of pathogenic diarrhea causing E. coli strains was established using multiplex-Polymerase Chain Reaction. Results The health care clinics in the Vhembe District generally complied with the basic WASH services guidelines according to the World Health Organisation. Although 80% of the clinics used borehole water which is classified as an improved water source, microbiological assessment showed that 38% inside taps and 64% outside taps from the clinic compounds had TC counts higher than guideline limits for safe drinking. Similarly, EC counts above the guideline limit for safe drinking water were detected in 17% inside taps and 32% outside taps from the clinic compounds. Pathogenic EAEC, EPEC, ETEC and EHEC strains were isolated in the collected water samples. Although improved sanitation infrastructures were present in most of the clinics, the sanitary conditions of these toilets were not up to standard. Waste systems were not adequately managed. A total of 90% of the clinics had hand washing basins, while only 61% of the clinics had soap present and only 64% of the clinics had adequate signs and posters reminding the staff, care givers and patients to wash their hands. Conclusions Various WASH aspects within the primary health care system in South Africa needs to be improved and corrected. A more rigorous system that is inclusive of all role players in the WASH sectors, with regular monitoring and training sessions, should be used.

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