Dataset Information

Changing demographic trends among South African occupational therapists: 2002 to 2018.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:South Africa's quadruple burden of disease, coupled with health system challenges and other factors, predicts a high burden of disability within the population. Human Resources for Health policy and planning need to take account of this challenge. Occupational therapists are part of the health rehabilitation team, and their supply and status in the workforce need to be better understood. METHODS:The study was a retrospective record-based review of the Health Professions Council of South Africa database from 2002 to 2018. The data obtained from the Health Professions Council of South Africa was analysed for the following variables: geographical location, population groups, age, practice type and sex. Data was entered on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 22.0). RESULTS:In 2018, there were 5180 occupational therapists registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa with a ratio of 0.9 occupational therapists per 10 000 population. There has been an average annual increase of 7.1% over the time period of 2002-2018. The majority of occupational therapists are located in the more densely populated and urbanised provinces, namely Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Most of the registered occupational therapists are under the age of 40?years (67.7%). The majority (66%) are classified as white followed by those classified as black and coloured. Females make up 95% of the registered occupational therapists. Nationally, 74.8% of occupational therapists are deployed in the private sector catering for 16% of the population while approximately 25.2% are employed in the public sector catering for 84% of the population. CONCLUSIONS:Under-resourcing and disparities in the profile and distribution of occupational therapy human resources remain an abiding concern which negatively impacts on rehabilitation service provision and equitable health and rehabilitation outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Ned L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7083000 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Changing demographic trends among South African occupational therapists: 2002 to 2018.

Ned Lieketseng L Tiwari Ritika R Buchanan Helen H Van Niekerk Lana L Sherry Kate K Chikte Usuf U

Human resources for health 20200320 1

<h4>Background</h4>South Africa's quadruple burden of disease, coupled with health system challenges and other factors, predicts a high burden of disability within the population. Human Resources for Health policy and planning need to take account of this challenge. Occupational therapists are part of the health rehabilitation team, and their supply and status in the workforce need to be better understood.<h4>Methods</h4>The study was a retrospective record-based review of the Health Professions ...[more]

PMID: 32192502

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:Audiologists and Speech Therapists play a vital role in addressing sustainable development goals by supporting people who are marginalised due to communication challenges. The global burden of disease and poor social living conditions impact negatively on the development of healthy communication, therefore requiring the services of Audiologist and Speech therapists. Against this background, we examined the demographic profile and the supply, need and shortfall of Audiologists and Speech Therapists in South Africa. METHODS:The data set was drawn from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) registers (for 2002-2017) for the speech, language and hearing professions. This demographic profile of the professions was created based on the category of health personnel; category of practice, geographical location, population group (race) and sex. The annual supply was estimated from the HPCSA database while the service-target approach was used to estimate need. Additional need based on National Health Insurance Bill was also included. Supply-need gaps were forecast according to three scenarios, which varied according to the future intensity of policy intervention to increase occupancy of training places: 'best guess' (no intervention), 'optimistic' (feasible intervention), and 'aspirational' (significant intervention) scenarios up to 2030. RESULTS:Most (i.e. 1548, 47.4%) of the professionals are registered as Audiologists and Speech Therapists, followed by 33.5% registered as Speech Therapists and 19.1% registered as Audiologists. Around 88.5% professionals registered as Audiologists and Speech Therapists are practising independently, and 42.6% are practising in the Gauteng province. The profession is comprised majorly of women (94.6%), and in terms of the population groups (race), they are mainly classified as white (59.7%). In 2017, in best guess scenario, there is a supply-need gap of around 2800 professionals. In the absence of any intervention to increase supply capacity, this shortfall will remain same by the year 2030. By contrast, in aspirational scenario, i.e. supply is increased by 300%, the forecasted shortfall for 2030 reduces to 2300 from 2800 professionals. CONCLUSIONS:It is clear that without significant interventions, South Africa is likely to have a critical shortfall of Audiologists and Speech Therapists in 2030. Policy-makers will have to carefully examine issues surrounding the current framework regulating training of these and associated professionals, in order to respond adequately to future requirements.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017 estimated that around 35-40 million people require prosthetic or orthotic services. The Framework and Strategy for Disability and Rehabilitation 2015-2030 for South Africa highlights a shortage of human resources for disability and rehabilitation services to manage the various risks and types of impairments faced by the population. OBJECTIVE:To describe the demographic trends of Prosthetists/Orthotists (P/O) registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) from 2002 to 2018. METHODS:The study was a retrospective record-based review of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) database from 2002 until 2018. The database of registered Prosthetists/Orthotists was obtained from the HPCSA. RESULTS:Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 22.0). In 2018, there were 544 P/Os registered with the HPCSA with a ratio of 0.09 P/Os per 10,000 population. There has been an average annual increase of 6% from 2002 to 2018. The majority (71.9%) of P/Os are located in the more densely populated and urbanized provinces, namely Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape. The majority of registered P/Os identified as white (61%) followed by Black (22%), Indian (7%) and Coloured (2%). Most of registered P/Os are under the age of 40 years (54.2%) and males make up 73% of the registered P/Os. CONCLUSION:This study highlights the unequal spatial distribution trends of P/Os which could be accounted for by South Africa's apartheid history and the subsequent slow pace of transformation. Addressing the existing shortages is necessary to expand access to P/Os services and to ensure the motivation, planning and provision of adequate infrastructure to provide these services. The study presents a compelling case for the prioritization and strengthening of this workforce for the achievement of effective universal health coverage for persons with disabilities.

Project description:BackgroundSchistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is a chronic parasitic blood fluke infection acquired through contact with contaminated surface water. The illness may be mild or can cause significant morbidity with potentially serious complications. Children and those living in rural areas with limited access to piped water and services for healthcare are the most commonly infected. To address the prevalence of the disease in parts of South Africa (SA) effective national control measures are planned, but have not yet been implemented. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and trends of public sector laboratory-confirmed schistosomiasis cases in SA over an eight-year (2011-2018) period, to inform future control measures.Methodology & principal findingsThis is a descriptive analysis of secondary data from the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS). The study included all records of patients for whom microscopic examination detected Schistosoma species eggs in urine or stool specimens from January 2011 to December 2018. Crude estimates of the prevalence were calculated using national census mid-year provincial population estimates as denominators, and simple linear regression was used to analyse prevalence trends. A test rate ratio was developed to describe variations in testing volumes among different groups and to adjust prevalence estimates for testing variations. A total number of 135 627 schistosomiasis cases was analysed with the highest prevalence observed among males and individuals aged 5-19 years. We describe ongoing endemicity in the Eastern Cape Province, and indicate important differences in the testing between population groups.ConclusionWhile there was no overall change in the prevalence of schistosomiasis during the analysis period, an average of 36 people per 100 000 was infected annually. As such, this represents an opportunity to control the disease and improve quality of life of affected people. Laboratory-based surveillance is a useful method for reporting occurrence and evaluating future intervention programs where resources to implement active surveillance are limited.

Project description:ImportanceGender disparity exists among authors of the oncology literature.ObjectiveTo quantify trends in authorship by gender within a comprehensive data set of Medline-indexed oncology articles in medical journals with high impact factors.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional study used Medline citations to examine archives of research journals from 3 disciplines in the oncology literature. Authors from all oncology-related articles with Medical Subject Headings terms assigned from 2002 to 2018 from 13 general oncology/medicine, radiation oncology, and surgical journals were included for analysis, encompassing clinical trials, observational studies (excluding case reports), reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and all other published articles. Data were analyzed between April and May 2020.ExposuresAuthors were assigned genders based on societal naming norms via third-party gender identification service Gender-API.com. This assignment was internally validated based on manually obtained publicly available data on the internet.Main outcomes and measuresTrend in female authorship over time while considering journal type, authorship position, and article type.ResultsA total of 420 526 authors from 58 368 articles were found, of which 400 945 were assigned a gender based on their name. In total, 29.5% (95% CI, 29.4%-29.6%) of authors were identified as female, rising from 25.5% (95% CI, 24.7%-26.3%) in 2002 to 31.7% (95% CI, 31.2%-32.3%) in 2018. Each subgroup of primary article type by journal type saw a rise in female authorship over the studied period. For primary articles, last authors were less likely to be women than first authors, regardless of journal type, year, and primary article type (eg, general oncology: odds ratio [OR], 0.60; 95% CI, 0.52-0.69). For general oncology articles, women were less likely to be authors of clinical trials at each authorship position than authors at that respective position for observational studies (first, second, and last authors: OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.49-0.67; other authors: OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.79-0.89). This difference was not seen for radiation oncology or surgical oncology journals.Conclusions and relevanceThis cross-sectional study found that female authorship in oncology research literature has increased. However, there remains a dearth of female senior authors, and the overall rise in female authorship has not kept up with the rise in female oncology faculty.

Dataset Information

Changing demographic trends among South African occupational therapists: 2002 to 2018.

Publications

Changing demographic trends among South African occupational therapists: 2002 to 2018.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets