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Evaluating the implementation of the emergency, triage, assessment and treatment plus admission care intervention in Rwanda

University of British Columbia

Background: Emergency, Triage, Assessment and Treatment plus Admission care (ETAT+) intervention – a locally adapted pediatric advanced life support program – introduced in Rwanda in 2010 to facilitate the achievement of the fourth Millennium Development Goal. The current thesis was undertaken as part of a larger program of research that aims to evaluate the ETAT+ implementation in Rwanda. Methods: Data were gathered during a cross-sectional study in 8 district hospitals across Rwanda; an audit in these hospitals was undertaken to establish a baseline description of the availability of essential resources and process of care related to the leading causes of under-five mortality in Rwanda. To determine changes in participating healthcare providers’ knowledge and practical skills (n=374) between pre- and post ETAT+ implementation, a one group pre-posttest design was used. Paired t-test was used to assess the effect of ETAT+ training on knowledge improvement; and, linear and logistic regression models were fitted to examine factors associated with healthcare providers’ performance on ETAT+ knowledge and skills assessments in Rwanda. Results: Baseline assessment reveals some deficiencies in processes of care (i.e. assessment, treatment and follow-up care), poor organization of some hospital services (e.g., triage), and poor uptake of current pediatric clinical practice guidelines (e.g., dehydration). Post ETAT+, participants’ knowledge scores improved on average by 22.8% (95% CI 20.5, 25.1). Compared to participants who identified as proficient in French, those who identified as proficient in both English and French had on average a higher improvement in knowledge (least square mean=6.64; 95% CI 3.79, 9.49) and were more likely to pass the practical skills assessment (adjusted odds ratio=2.58; 95% CI 1.28, 5.48). Conclusions: The audit of medical records reveals gaps in the process of pediatric care; and these gaps were found to be consistent with knowledge gaps among healthcare providers, as assessed through the ETAT+ pre-assessment. Improvements in post-ETAT+ performance were significant and a number of factors (e.g., language barriers) were identified as important influences on ETAT+ training outcomes. These factors need to be taken in account when implementing ETAT+ and other continuing medical education interventions within the Rwandan context.

Text

2016-10-31

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/55056

Population and Public Health

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/