Articles - Tagged as 'archive'

New course: Integrated Healthcare for Children with Developmental Disabilities

Oxford Global Surgery Course 2019

Experience of global musculoskeletal research: considering the whole child when treating a single impairment. A case study of clubfoot in older children.

In Ethiopia, which is a large country with poor infra structure, children who present with neglected Clubfoot to Cure hospital in Addis Ababa must remain in the capital throughout the duration of their treatment. On average they stay on the rehab ward at Cure or at Alemachen (a convalescent home which accommodates up to 40 children) for a minimum of four months.  Frequently they remain in Addis for six to eight months. As a physiotherapist, Jo’s concern is to fully utilise this time.

Trauma care in Malawi: A call to action

Quality of life and complications in lower limb amputees in Tanzania: results from a pilot study

Understanding and Addressing the Global Need for Orthopaedic Trauma Care.

This article addresses the global burden of musculoskeletal trauma in particular in low and middle income countries.

Comprehensive national analysis of emergency and essential surgical capacity in Rwanda

Background: Disparities in the global availability of operating theatres, essential surgical equipment and surgically trained providers are profound. Although efforts are ongoing to increase surgical care and training, little is known about the surgical capacity in developing countries. The aim of this study was to create a baseline for surgical development planning at a national level.

Infectious Outcomes Assessment for Health System Strengthening in Low-Resource Settings: The Novel Use of a Trauma Registry in Rwanda

Background: More than 90% of injury deaths occur in low-income countries where a shortage of personnel, infrastructure, and materials challenge health system strengthening efforts. Trauma registries developed regionally have been used previously for injury surveillance in resource-limited settings, but scant outcomes data exist.

Identifying the Unique Non-Technical Skills Used by Surgeons Operating in Low and Middle Income Contexts

As surgical training and capacity increase in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), new strategies for improving surgical education and care in resource-poor settings are required. Non-technical skills (NTS) have been identified as critical to high-quality surgical performance in high-income countries (HICs), but little is known about the NTS used by surgeons in LMICs. This study aims to identify the non-technical skills used by surgeons operating in a LMIC context.

Using a Trauma Registry and Quality Indicators to Evaluate Trauma Care in Rwanda

Injury is a leading cause of death in many limited resource settings. This study aimed to measure the quality of trauma care at the largest referral hospitals in Rwanda, the University Teaching Hospitals in Kigali and Butare,compared to international trauma care standards.

Development of the International Assessment of Capacity for Trauma (INTACT) Index: An Initial Implementation in Sierra Leone

Injury remains a leading cause of death worldwide with a disproportionate impact in the developing world. Capabilities for trauma care remain limited in these settings. Previous attempts have been made to assess basic trauma resources but have been limited to essential care. We propose the implementation of the International Assessment of Capacity for Trauma (INTACT) index, which incorporates surgical capacity beyond initial resuscitation.

The Burden of Hand Injuries at a Tertiary Hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa

Necrotizing fasciitis is an infectious process characterized by rapidly progressing necrosis of superficial fascia and subcutaneous tissue with subsequent necrosis of overlying skin. Necrotizing fasciitis is a rare but fatal infection. The worldwide incidence is at 0.4 per 100,000. Mortality is up to 80% with no intervention, and 30-50% with intervention. Delay in intervention is associated with poor outcome. The risk factors for necrotizing fasciitis are diabetes mellitus, HIV, malignancy, illicit drug use, malnutrition among others. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical presentation and early outcomes of necrotizing fasciitis amongst Ugandan patients.

Tranexamic Acid Use in Severely Injured Civilian Patients and the Effects on Outcomes

 Objective: To characterize the relationship between tranexamic acid (TXA) use and patient outcomes in a severely injured civilian cohort, and to determine any differential effect between patients who presented with and without shock. Background: TXA has demonstrated survival benefits in trauma patients in an international randomized control trial and the military setting. The uptake of TXA into civilian major hemorrhage protocols (MHPs) has been variable. The evidence gap in mature civilian trauma systems is limiting the widespread use of TXA and its potential benefits on survival. Methods: Prospective cohort study of severely injured adult patients (Injury severity score > 15) admitted to a civilian trauma system during the adoption phase of TXA into the hospital's MHP. Outcomes measured were mortality, multiple organ failure (MOF), venous thromboembolism, infection, stroke, ventilator-free days (VFD), and length ofstay. Results: Patients receiving TXA (n = 160, 42%) were more severely injured, shocked, and coagulopathic on arrival. TXA was not independently associated with any change in outcome for either the overall or nonshocked cohorts. In multivariate analysis, TXA was independently associated with a reduction in MOF [odds ratio (OR) = 0.27, confidence interval (CI): 0.10–0.73, P = 0.01] and was protective for adjusted all-cause mortality (OR = 0.16 CI: 0.03–0.86, P = 0.03) in shocked patients. Conclusions: TXA as part of a major hemorrhage protocol within a mature civilian trauma system provides outcome benefits specifically for severely injured shocked patients. 

Evolution of trauma care in the UK: Current developments and future expectations

Major trauma is a major public health problem. It is the leading cause of death in people from the age of 1–40, accounting for one in ten deaths overall, and leads to significant morbidity.¹ Over the last 40 years many countries in the developed world have developed regionalised trauma systems to improve the survival rates of their patients who sustain traumatic injury.

Recommendations for including surgery on the public health agenda

Surgical care has made limited inroads on the public health and global health agendas despite increasing data showing the enormous need. The objective of this study was to survey interested members of a global surgery community to identify patterns of thought regarding barriers to political priority.

Task sharing within a managed clinical network to improve child health in Malawi

Background Eighty per cent of Malawi’s 8 million children live in rural areas, and there is an extensive tiered health system infrastructure from village health clinics to district hospitals which refers patients to one of the four central hospitals. The clinics and district hospitals are staffed by nurses, non-physician clinicians and recently qualified doctors. There are 16 paediatric specialists working in two of the four central hospitals which serve the urban population as well as accepting referrals from district hospitals. In order to provide expert paediatric care as close to home as possible, we describe our plan to task share within a managed clinical network and our hypothesis that this will improve paediatric care and child health.

The evidence needed to make surgery a global health priority

In their policy analysis, Yusra Ribhi Shawar and colleagues (August, 2015)¹ outline the complex responses needed to make surgery a global health priority, highlighting as a major challenge that “consensus needs to be reached on solutions”. Professional interests might have forestalled consensus on the need to train and supervise non-surgeons to deliver surgical services in places where surgeons cannot be retained.²However, sceptics are right to call, and donors to wait, for evidence on the feasibility, safety, cost-effectiveness, and outcomes of such models.

Surgical care needs of low-resource populations: an estimate of the prevalence of surgically treatable conditions and avoidable deaths in 48 countries

Abstract: Background Surgical care needs in low-resource countries are increasingly recognised as an important aspect of global health, yet data for the size of the problem are insufficient. The Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical Need (SOSAS) is a population-based cluster survey previously used in Nepal, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. Methods Using previously published SOSAS data from three resource-poor countries (Nepal, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone), a weighted average of overall prevalence of surgically treatable conditions was estimated and the number of deaths that could have been avoided by providing access to surgical care was calculated for the broader community of low-resource countries. Such conditions included, but were not limited to, injuries (road traffic incidents, falls, burns, and gunshot or stab wounds), masses (solid or soft, reducible), deformities (congenital or acquired), abdominal distention, and obstructed delivery. Population and health expenditure per capita data were obtained from the World Bank. Low-resource countries were defined as those with a per capita health expenditure of US$100 or less annually. The overall prevalence estimate from the previously published SOSAS data was extrapolated to each low-resource country. Using crude death rates for each country and the calculated proportion of avoidable deaths, a total number of deaths possibly averted in the previous year with access to appropriate surgical care was calculated. Findings The overall prevalence of surgically treatable conditions was 11·16% (95% CI 11·15–11·17) and 25·6% (95% CI 25·4–25·7) of deaths were potentially avoidable by providing access to surgical care. Using these percentages for the 48 low-resource countries, an estimated 288·2 million people are living with a surgically treatable condition and 5·6 million deaths could be averted annually by the provision of surgical care. In the Nepal SOSAS study, the observed agreement between self-reported verbal responses and visual physical examination findings was 94·6%. Such high correlation helps to validate the SOSAS tool. Interpretation Hundreds of millions of people with surgically treatable conditions live in low-resource countries, and about 25% of the mortality annually could be avoided with better access to surgical care. Strengthening surgical care must be considered when strengthening health systems and in setting future sustainable development goals. Funding None.

The Specialist Surgeon Workforce in East, Central and Southern Africa: A Situation Analysis

In East, Central and Southern Africa accurate data on the current surgeon workforce have previously been limited. The surgical workforce in each of the ten member countries of the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) was determined by gathering and crosschecking data from multiple sources including COSECSA records, medical council registers, local surgical societies records, event attendance lists and interviews of Members and Fellows of COSECSA, and validating this by direct contact with the surgeons identified. 

Evidence-based medicine for all: what we can learn from a programme providing free access to an online clinical resource to health workers in resource-limited settings

In 2009, the Global Health Delivery Project collaborated with UpToDate to provide free subscriptions to qualifying health workers in resource-limited settings. 

Good results after Ponseti treatment for neglected congenital clubfoot in Ethiopia: A prospective study of 22 children (32 feet) from 2 to 10 years of age

We evaluated the effective- ness of Ponseti’s technique in neglected clubfoot in children in a rural setting in Ethiopia.

Injury prevalence and causality in developing nations: Results from a countrywide population-based survey in Nepal

Traumatic injury affects nearly 5.8 million people annually and causes 10% of the world's deaths. In this study we aimed to estimate injury prevalence, to describe risk-factors and mechanisms of injury, and to estimate the number of injury-related deaths in Nepal, a low-income South Asian country.

Traumatic injury in Sierra Leone: results from a nationwide survey

Traumatic injuries are an important cause of disability and mortality worldwide and more than 90% of injury-related deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries. Despite its overall significance, little information exists about the burden of injuries in developing countries. We aim to estimate the prevalence of traumatic injuries, describe injury mechanisms, and assess the degree of associated disability in Sierra Leone.

Technology for effective partnership collaboration

This guide, from the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET), identifies online and electronic tools that can help partnerships collaborate more effectively.

Indignity, exclusion, pain and hunger: the impact of musculoskeletal impairments in the lives of children in Malawi

Purpose: To develop a conceptual model representing the impact of musculoskeletal impairments (MSIs) in the lives of children in Malawi. Method: A total of 169 children with MSIs (CMSIs), family and other community members participated in 57 interviews, focus groups and observations. An inductive approach to data analysis was used to conceptualise the impact of MSIs in children’s day-to-day lives. Results: The main themes that emerged were Indignity, Exclusion, Pain and Hunger. Indignity represents various affronts to children’s sense of inherent equal worth as human beings, for example when bullied by peers. Exclusion refers to CMSIs being excluded from three core daily activities: school, play and household chores. Some CMSIs experienced Pain, for example as an outcome of striving to participate. Children with severe mobility impairments were at increased risk of Hunger, having less access to food outside the home and placing a burden of care on the family that could restrict household productivity. Household Poverty was therefore included in the model, as this household impact was inseparable from the impact on CMSIs. Conclusion: It is recommended that rehabilitation interventions are planned and evaluated with consideration to their impact on Exclusion, Indignity, Pain, Hunger and Household Poverty using multi-faceted partnerships.

A National Survey of Musculoskeletal Impairment in Rwanda: Prevalence, Causes and Service Implications

Accurate information on the prevalence and causes of musculoskeletal impairment (MSI) is lacking in low income countries. We present a new survey methodology that is based on sound epidemiological principles and is linked to the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Functioning.

The global burden of low back pain: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study

Objective: To estimate the global burden of low back pain (LBP).

The global burden of gout: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study

Objective: Gout is the most common cause of inflammatory arthritis in men, but has not previously been included in Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies. As part of the GBD 2010 Study, the Musculoskeletal Disorders and Risk Factors Expert Group estimated the global burden of gout.

The global burden of other musculoskeletal disorders: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study

Objective: To estimate disability from the remainder of musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders (categorised as other MSK) not covered by the estimates made specifically for osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), gout, low back pain and neck pain, as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2010 study.

The global burden of hip and knee osteoarthritis: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study

Objective: To estimate the global burden of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) as part of the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study and to explore how the burden of hip and knee OA compares with other conditions.

The global burden of rheumatoid arthritis: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study

Objectives: To estimate the global burden of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as part of the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study of 291 conditions and how the burden of RA compares with other conditions.

The global burden of musculoskeletal conditions for 2010: an overview of methods

The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of methods used for estimating the burden from musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions in the Global Burden of Diseases 2010 study. It should be read in conjunction with the disease-specific MSK papers published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.

The global burden of neck pain: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study

Objective: To estimate the global burden of neck pain.

Reflecting on the global burden of musculoskeletal conditions: lessons learnt from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study and the next steps forward

The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the strengths, limitations and lessons learned from estimating the burden from musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions in the Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study (GBD 2010 Study). It should be read in conjunction with the other GBD 2010 Study papers published in this journal. The strengths of the GBD 2010 Study include: the involvement of a MSK expert group; development of new and more valid case definitions, functional health states, and disability weights to better reflect the MSK conditions; the extensive series of systematic reviews undertaken to obtain data to derive the burden estimates; and the use of a new, more advanced version of the disease-modelling software (DisMod-MR). Limitations include: many regions of the world did not have data; the extent of heterogeneity between included studies; and burden does not include broader aspects of life, such as participation and well-being. A number of lessons were learned. Ongoing involvement of experts is critical to ensure the success of future efforts to quantify and monitor this burden. A paradigm shift is urgently needed among global agencies in order to alleviate the rapidly increasing global burden from MSK conditions. Prevention and control of MSK disability are required, along with health system changes. Further research is needed to improve understanding of the predictors and clinical course across different settings, and the ways in which MSK conditions can be better managed and prevented.

Epidemiology: Measurement matters—making musculoskeletal disease count

Reliable estimates of disease burden support rational allocation of financial and human resources. Measurement is a powerful force for change as 'what gets measured gets done'. The global burden of musculoskeletal disease studies ensures visibility of these highly prevalent, disabling diseases. Now we must act to reduce disease burden.