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Improvement in tuberculosis infection control practice via technical support in two regions of Ethiopia.

Ayalew, A ; Gashu, Z ; Anteneh, Tadesse ; Hiruy, N ; Habte, D ; Jerene, Degu LU ; Alem, Genetu ; Jemal, Ilili ; Melese, Muluken and Suarez, P. G. (2018) In BMC Infectious Diseases 18(1). p.1-7
Abstract
Background
Globally recommended measures for comprehensive tuberculosis (TB) infection control (IC) are inadequately practiced in most health care facilities in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of implementation of TB IC measures before and after introducing a comprehensive technical support package in two regions of Ethiopia.
Methods
We used a quasi-experimental design, whereby a baseline assessment of TB IC practices in 719 health care facilities was conducted between August and October 2013. Based on the assessment findings, we supported implementation of a comprehensive package of interventions. Monitoring was done on a quarterly basis, and one-year follow-up data were collected on September 30,... (More)
Background
Globally recommended measures for comprehensive tuberculosis (TB) infection control (IC) are inadequately practiced in most health care facilities in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of implementation of TB IC measures before and after introducing a comprehensive technical support package in two regions of Ethiopia.
Methods
We used a quasi-experimental design, whereby a baseline assessment of TB IC practices in 719 health care facilities was conducted between August and October 2013. Based on the assessment findings, we supported implementation of a comprehensive package of interventions. Monitoring was done on a quarterly basis, and one-year follow-up data were collected on September 30, 2014. We used the Student’s t-test and chi-squared tests, respectively, to examine differences before and after the interventions and to test for inter-regional and inter-facility associations.
Results
At baseline, most of the health facilities (69%) were reported to have separate TB clinics. In 55.2% of the facilities, it was also reported that window opening was practiced. Nevertheless, triaging was practiced in only 19.3% of the facilities. Availability of an IC committee and IC plan was observed in 29.11 and 4.65% of facilities, respectively. Health care workers were nearly three times as likely to develop active TB as the general population. After 12 months of implementation, availability of a separate TB room, TB IC committee, triage, and TB IC plan had increased, respectively, by 18, 32, 44, and 51% (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
After 1 year of intervention, the TB IC practices of the health facilities have significantly improved. However, availability of separate TB rooms and existence of TB IC committees remain suboptimal. The burden of TB among health care workers is higher than in the general population. TB IC measures must be strengthened to reduce TB transmission among health workers. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
BMC Infectious Diseases
volume
18
issue
1
article number
557
pages
1 - 7
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85056320584
  • pmid:30419825
ISSN
1471-2334
DOI
10.1186/s12879-018-3459-0
project
LUC3 - Lund University Child Centered Care
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
bb2a2584-c96f-423f-8904-462c2174db5b
date added to LUP
2019-06-28 09:21:23
date last changed
2022-03-10 18:25:00
@article{bb2a2584-c96f-423f-8904-462c2174db5b,
  abstract     = {{Background<br>
Globally recommended measures for comprehensive tuberculosis (TB) infection control (IC) are inadequately practiced in most health care facilities in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of implementation of TB IC measures before and after introducing a comprehensive technical support package in two regions of Ethiopia.<br>
Methods<br>
We used a quasi-experimental design, whereby a baseline assessment of TB IC practices in 719 health care facilities was conducted between August and October 2013. Based on the assessment findings, we supported implementation of a comprehensive package of interventions. Monitoring was done on a quarterly basis, and one-year follow-up data were collected on September 30, 2014. We used the Student’s t-test and chi-squared tests, respectively, to examine differences before and after the interventions and to test for inter-regional and inter-facility associations.<br>
Results<br>
At baseline, most of the health facilities (69%) were reported to have separate TB clinics. In 55.2% of the facilities, it was also reported that window opening was practiced. Nevertheless, triaging was practiced in only 19.3% of the facilities. Availability of an IC committee and IC plan was observed in 29.11 and 4.65% of facilities, respectively. Health care workers were nearly three times as likely to develop active TB as the general population. After 12 months of implementation, availability of a separate TB room, TB IC committee, triage, and TB IC plan had increased, respectively, by 18, 32, 44, and 51% (p &lt; 0.001).<br>
Conclusions<br>
After 1 year of intervention, the TB IC practices of the health facilities have significantly improved. However, availability of separate TB rooms and existence of TB IC committees remain suboptimal. The burden of TB among health care workers is higher than in the general population. TB IC measures must be strengthened to reduce TB transmission among health workers.}},
  author       = {{Ayalew, A and Gashu, Z and Anteneh, Tadesse and Hiruy, N and Habte, D and Jerene, Degu and Alem, Genetu and Jemal, Ilili and Melese, Muluken and Suarez, P. G.}},
  issn         = {{1471-2334}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{1--7}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Infectious Diseases}},
  title        = {{Improvement in tuberculosis infection control practice via technical support in two regions of Ethiopia.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-018-3459-0}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12879-018-3459-0}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}