Dataset Information

Pulse oximeter with integrated management of childhood illness for diagnosis of severe childhood pneumonia at rural health institutions in Southern Ethiopia: results from a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To assess whether pulse oximetry improves health workers' performance in diagnosing severe childhood pneumonia at health centres in Southern Ethiopia.

Design

Parallel cluster-randomised trial.

Setting

Government primary health centres.

Participants

Twenty-four health centres that treat at least one pneumonia case per day in Southern Ethiopia. Children aged between 2 months and 59 months who present at health facilities with cough or difficulty breathing were recruited in the study from September 2018 to April 2019.

Intervention arm

Use of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) algorithm and pulse oximeter.

Control arm

Use of the IMCI algorithm only.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

The primary outcome was the proportion of children diagnosed with severe pneumonia. Secondary outcomes included referred cases of severe pneumonia and treatment failure on day 14 after enrolment.

Result

Twenty-four health centres were randomised into intervention (928 children) and control arms (876 children). The proportion of children with severe pneumonia was 15.9% (148 of 928 children) in the intervention arm and 3.9% (34 of 876 children) in the control arm. After adjusting for differences in baseline variables children in the intervention arm were more likely to be diagnosed as severe pneumonia cases as compared with those in the control arm (adjusted OR: 5.4, 95% CI 2.0 to 14.3, p=0.001).

Conclusion

The combined use of IMCI and pulse oximetry in health centres increased the number of diagnosed severe childhood pneumonia.

Trial registration number

PACTR201807164196402.

SUBMITTER: Tesfaye SH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7311017 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Pulse oximeter with integrated management of childhood illness for diagnosis of severe childhood pneumonia at rural health institutions in Southern Ethiopia: results from a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Tesfaye Solomon H SH Gebeyehu Yabibal Y Loha Eskindir E Johansson Kjell Arne KA Lindtjørn Bernt B

BMJ open 20200621 6

<h4>Objective</h4>To assess whether pulse oximetry improves health workers' performance in diagnosing severe childhood pneumonia at health centres in Southern Ethiopia.<h4>Design</h4>Parallel cluster-randomised trial.<h4>Setting</h4>Government primary health centres.<h4>Participants</h4>Twenty-four health centres that treat at least one pneumonia case per day in Southern Ethiopia. Children aged between 2 months and 59 months who present at health facilities with cough or difficulty breathing wer ...[more]

PMID: 32565474

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Project description:BackgroundPulse oximetry has potential for identifying hypoxaemic pneumonia and substantially reducing under-five deaths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) setting. However, there are few examples of introducing pulse oximetry in resource-constrained paediatric outpatient settings, such as Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) services.MethodsThe National IMCI-programme of Bangladesh designed and developed a district implementation model for introducing pulse oximetry in routine IMCI services through stakeholder engagement and demonstrated the model in Kushtia district adopting a health system strengthening approach. Between December 2020 and June 2021, two rounds of assessment were conducted based on WHO's implementation research framework and outcome variables, involving 22 IMCI service-providers and 1680 children presenting with cough/difficulty-in-breathing in 12 health facilities. The data collection procedures included structured-observations, re-assessments, interviews, and data-extraction by trained study personnel.FindingsWe observed that IMCI service-providers conducted pulse oximetry assessments on all eligible children in routine outpatient settings, of which 99% of assessments were successful; 85% (95% CI 83,87) in one attempt, and 69% (95% CI 67,71) within one minute. The adherence to standard operating procedure related to pulse oximetry was 92% (95% CI 91,93), and agreement regarding identifying hypoxaemia was 97% (95% CI 96,98). The median performance-time was 36 seconds (IQR 20,75), which was longer among younger children (2-11 months: 44s, IQR 22,78; 12-59 months: 30s, IQR 18,53, p < 0.01) and among those classified as pneumonia/severe-pneumonia than as no-pneumonia (41s, IQR 22,70; 32s, IQR 20,62, p < 0.01). We observed improvements in almost all indicators in round-2. IMCI service-providers and caregivers showed positive attitudes towards using this novel technology for assessing their children.InterpretationThis implementation research study suggested the adoption, feasibility, fidelity, appropriateness, acceptability, and sustainability of pulse oximetry introduction in routine IMCI services in resource-poor settings. The learning may inform the evidence-based scale-up of pulse oximetry linked with an oxygen delivery system in Bangladesh and other LMICs.FundingThis research was funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (Global Health Research Unit on Respiratory Health (RESPIRE); 16/136/109) using UK aid from the UK Government to support global health research.

Project description:BackgroundThe misdiagnosis of non-malarial fever in sub-Saharan Africa has contributed to the significant burden of pediatric pneumonia and the inappropriate use of antibiotics in this region. This study aims to assess the impact of 1) portable pulse oximeters and 2) Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) continued education training on the diagnosis and treatment of non-malarial fever amongst pediatric patients being treated by the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) in rural Malawi.MethodsThis study involved a logbook review to compare treatment patterns between five GAIA mobile clinics in Mulanje, Malawi during April-June 2019. An intervention study design was employed with four study groups: 1) 2016 control, 2) 2019 control, 3) IMCI-only, and 4) IMCI and pulse oximeter. A total of 3,504 patient logbook records were included based on these inclusion criteria: age under five years, febrile, malaria-negative, and treated during the dry season. A qualitative questionnaire was distributed to the participating GAIA providers. Fisher's Exact Testing and odds ratios were calculated to compare the prescriptive practices between each study group and reported with 95% confidence intervals.ResultsThe pre- and post-exam scores for the providers who participated in the IMCI training showed an increase in content knowledge and understanding (p<0.001). The antibiotic prescription rates in each study group were 75% (2016 control), 85% (2019 control), 84% (IMCI only), and 42% (IMCI + pulse oximeter) (p<0.001). An increase in pneumonia diagnoses was detected for patients who received pulse oximeter evaluation with an oxygen saturation <95% (p<0.001). No significant changes in antibiotic prescribing practices were detected in the IMCI-only group (p>0.001). However, provider responses to the qualitative questionnaires indicated alternative benefits of the training including improved illness classification and increased provider confidence.ConclusionClinics that implemented both the IMCI course and pulse oximeters exhibited a significant decrease in antibiotic prescription rates, thus highlighting the potential of this tool in combatting antibiotic overconsumption in low-resource settings. Enhanced detection of hypoxia in pediatric patients was regarded by clinicians as helpful for identifying pneumonia cases. GAIA staff appreciated the IMCI continued education training, however it did not appear to significantly impact antibiotic prescription rates and/or pneumonia diagnosis.

Project description:ObjectivesCapillary refill time is a noninvasive method to assess tissue perfusion to determine shock status. Capillary refill time is defined as the time required to regain skin color after blanching pressure is applied. Although common methods to measure capillary refill time depend on clinicians' visual assessment, a new approach using a pulse oximeter waveform analysis exists, referred to as full finger reperfusion time. We aim to evaluate reproducibility and validity of the novel full finger reperfusion time measurement using clinicians' visual capillary refill time assessment as a reference standard.DesignProspective observational study.SettingPICUs and operating suites at a large academic children's hospital.PatientsNinety-nine children 1-12 years old with various skin color tones.InterventionsEach child had 10 measurements, including five full finger reperfusion time and five clinician capillary refill time, alternating second and third digits.Measurements and main resultsEighteen children had prolonged capillary refill time (> 2 s) and four children with capillary refill time greater than 3 seconds. Four-hundred eighty-five data pairs were analyzed. Intraclass correlation coefficient of full finger reperfusion time within each patient was 0.76 (95% CI, 0.68-0.83), demonstrating good reproducibility. Correlation coefficient between full finger reperfusion time and clinician capillary refill time was moderate: r = 0.37 (p < 0.0001; 95% CI, 0.29-0.44) for the pairs and r = 0.52 (p < 0.0001; 95% CI, 0.36-0.65) for patient average. Bland-Altman plot showed a consistent difference between full finger reperfusion time and clinician capillary refill time (full finger reperfusion time 1.14 s longer). Weak association was found between force and full finger reperfusion time (β = -0.033 ± 0.016; 95% CI, -0.065 to -0.0016; p = 0.04), finger thickness (β = -0.20 ± 0.089; 95% CI, -0.37 to -0.19; p = 0.03), except for color tone (p = 0.31). Finger temperature was associated with full finger reperfusion time (β = -0.18 ± 0.041; 95% CI, -0.26 to -0.0999; p < 0.0001).ConclusionsFull finger reperfusion time demonstrated good reproducibility. Full finger reperfusion time showed moderate correlation with clinician capillary refill time. Full finger reperfusion time was 1.14 seconds longer than capillary refill time. Future studies should focus on the clinical value of full finger reperfusion time as a monitoring device for hemodynamics in critically ill children.

Dataset Information

Pulse oximeter with integrated management of childhood illness for diagnosis of severe childhood pneumonia at rural health institutions in Southern Ethiopia: results from a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Intervention arm

Control arm

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Result

Conclusion

Trial registration number

Publications

Pulse oximeter with integrated management of childhood illness for diagnosis of severe childhood pneumonia at rural health institutions in Southern Ethiopia: results from a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

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