René English

Effect of educational outreach to nurses on tuberculosis case detection and primary care of respiratory illness: pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial

Abstract Objectives To develop and implement an educational outreach programme for the integrated case management of priority respiratory diseases (practical approach to lung health in South Africa; PALSA) and to evaluate its effects on respiratory care and detection of tuberculosis among adults attending primary care clinics. Design Pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial, with clinics as the unit of randomisation. Setting 40 primary care clinics, staffed by nurse practitioners, in the Free State province, South Africa. Participants 1999 patients aged 15 or over with cough or difficult breathing (1000 in intervention clinics, 999 in control clinics). Intervention Between two and six educational outreach sessions delivered to nurse practitioners by usual trainers from the health department. The emphasis was on key messages drawn from the customised clinical practice guideline for the outreach programme, with illustrative support materials. Main outcome measures Sputum screening for tuberculosis, tuberculosis case detection, inhaled corticosteroid prescriptions for obstructive lung disease, and antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory tract infections. Results All clinics and almost all patients (92.8%, 1856/1999) completed the trial. Although sputum testing for tuberculosis was similar between the groups (22.6% in outreach group v 19.3% in control group; odds ratio 1.22, 95% confidence interval 0.83 to 1.80), the case detection of tuberculosis was higher in the outreach group (6.4% v 3.8%; 1.72, 1.04 to 2.85). Prescriptions for inhaled corticosteroids were also higher (13.7% v 7.7%; 1.90, 1.14 to 3.18) but the number of antibiotic prescriptions was similar (39.7% v 39.4%; 1.01, 0.74 to 1.38). Conclusions Combining educational outreach with integrated case management provides a promising model for improving quality of care and control of priority respiratory diseases, without extra staff, in resource poor settings. Trial registration Current controlled trials ISRCTN13438073.

Outreach education for integration of HIV/AIDS care, antiretroviral treatment, and tuberculosis care in primary care clinics in South Africa: PALSA PLUS pragmatic cluster randomised trial

Objective To investigate whether PALSA PLUS, an on-site educational outreach programme of non-didactic, case based, iterative clinical education of staff, led by a trainer, can increase access to and comprehensiveness of care for patients with HIV/AIDS. Design Cluster randomised trial. Setting Public primary care clinics offering HIV/AIDS care, antiretroviral treatment (ART), tuberculosis care, and ambulatory primary care in Free State province, South Africa. Participants Fifteen clinics all implementing decentralisation and task shifting were randomised. The clinics cared for 400 000 general primary care patients and 10 136 patients in an HIV/AIDS/ART programme. There were 150 nurses. Intervention On-site outreach education in eight clinics; no such education in seven (control). Main outcome measures Provision of co-trimoxazole prophylaxis among patients referred to the HIV/AIDS/ART programme, and detection of cases of tuberculosis among those in the programme. Proportion of patients in the programme enrolled through general primary care consultations. Results Patients referred to the HIV/AIDS programme through general primary care at intervention clinics were more likely than those at control clinics to receive co-trimoxazole prophylaxis (41%, (2253/5523) v 32% (1340/4210); odds ratio 1.95, 95% confidence interval 1.11 to 3.40), and tuberculosis was more likely to be diagnosed among patients with HIV/AIDS/ART (7% (417/5793) v 6% (245/4343); 1.25, 1.01 to 1.55). Enrolment in the HIV/AIDS and ART programme through HIV testing in general primary care was not significantly increased (53% v 50%; 1.19, 0.51 to 2.77). Secondary outcomes were similar, except for weight gain, which was higher in the intervention group (2.3 kg v 1.9 kg, P<0.001). Conclusion Though outreach education is an effective and feasible strategy for improving comprehensiveness of care and wellbeing of patients with HIV/AIDS, there is no evidence that it increases access to the ART programme. It is now being widely implemented in South Africa. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN 24820584.

Budesonide/formoterol and formoterol provide similar rapid relief in patients with acute asthma showing refractoriness to salbutamol.

BackgroundTo compare the efficacy and safety of budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort®) with formoterol (Oxis®) in the treatment of patients with acute asthma who showed evidence of refractoriness to short-acting β2-agonist therapy.MethodsIn a 3 hour, randomized, double-blind study, a total of 115 patients with acute asthma (mean FEV1 40% of predicted normal) and a refractory response to salbutamol (mean reversibility 2% of predicted normal after inhalation of 400 μg), were randomized to receive either budesonide/formoterol (320/9 μg, 2 inhalations at t = -5 minutes and 2 inhalations at 0 minutes [total dose 1280/36 μg]) or formoterol (9 μg, 2 inhalations at t = -5 minutes and 2 inhalations at 0 minutes [total dose 36 μg]). The primary efficacy variable was the average FEV1 from the first intake of study medication to the measurement at 90 minutes. Secondary endpoints included changes in FEV1 at other timepoints and change in respiratory rate at 180 minutes. Treatment success, treatment failure and patient assessment of the effectiveness of the study medication were also measured.ResultsFEV1 increased after administration of the study medication in both treatment groups. No statistically significant difference between the treatment groups was apparent for the primary outcome variable, or for any of the other efficacy endpoints. There were no statistically significant between-group differences for treatment success, treatment failure or patient assessment of medication effectiveness. Both treatments were well tolerated.ConclusionBudesonide/formoterol and formoterol provided similarly rapid relief of acute bronchoconstriction in patients with asthma who showed evidence of refractoriness to a short-acting β2-agonist.

Development of a South African integrated syndromic respiratory disease guideline for primary care.

AIMS The Practical Approach to Lung Health in South Africa (PALSA) initiative aimed to develop an integrated symptom- and sign-based (syndromic) respiratory disease guideline for nurse care practitioners working in primary care in a developing country. METHODS A multidisciplinary team developed the guideline after reviewing local barriers to respiratory health care provision, relevant health care policies, existing respiratory guidelines, and literature. Guideline drafts were evaluated by means of focus group discussions. Existing evidence-based guideline development methodologies were tailored for development of the guideline. RESULTS A locally-applicable guideline based on syndromic diagnostic algorithms was developed for the management of patients 15 years and older who presented to primary care facilities with cough or difficulty breathing. CONCLUSIONS PALSA has developed a guideline that integrates and presents diagnostic and management recommendations for priority respiratory diseases in adults using a symptom- and sign-based algorithmic guideline for nurses in developing countries.

Cost-effectiveness of educational outreach to primary care nurses to increase tuberculosis case detection and improve respiratory care: economic evaluation alongside a randomised trial.

Objective  To evaluate the cost‐effectiveness of an educational outreach intervention to improve primary respiratory care by South African nurses.

Keeping allergy on the agenda: integrated guidelines for respiratory disease in developing countries

Background:  Efforts to improve the care of patients with asthma and allergic conditions is in some developing countries being overwhelmed by the burden of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Innovative approaches are required to ensure that these diseases are not neglected.

Systems for the management of respiratory disease in primary care--an international series: South Africa.

INTRODUCTION Progress to democracy in South Africa in 1994 was followed by the adoption of a primary health care approach with free access for all. State health facilities serve 80% of the population, and a private sector comprising general practitioners, specialists and private hospitals, serves the remainder. NATIONAL POLICIES AND MODELS: There are national prescribing guidelines for common diseases, and these specify the medicines on the Essential Drugs List that are available at primary care facilities for respiratory diseases including asthma, COPD, pneumonia and tuberculosis. EPIDEMIOLOGY Asthma prevalence is average among children (13%) but morbidity is high. COPD rates are high owing to concurrent risk factors of smoking (in both men and women), occupational exposures, biomass fuel use and previous lung infections including tuberculosis. Tuberculosis and HIV are rampant, and together with pneumococcal co-infection account for considerable mortality. ACCESS TO CARE Primary care facilities are within reach of most communities, but major barriers to care include loss of income, waiting times in clinics, cost of transportation, and inconvenient hours. FACILITIES AVAILABLE The country is divided into districts each served by a hospital, several community health centres and many fixed or mobile clinics. The latter provide predominantly nurse-led care by nurse practitioners with additional qualifications. Some clinics and most community health centres are served by doctors. Referrals are made to secondary and tertiary hospitals served by specialists. FUTURE Innovations to address staff shortages include the creation of the specialty of family medicine for physicians and development of the clinical associate who is trained to perform a limited clinical role, as well as in-service on-site training of nurses through programmes of integrated care for infectious and chronic diseases. There is an urgent need to address low staff morale and medical migration resulting from a decade of poor leadership and AIDS denialism. CONCLUSIONS The structures and policies for primary care in South Africa provide some grounds for optimism that services may begin to match the promise of quality care for all, but the burden of disease and resource constraints - particularly in terms of qualified personnel - mitigate against an early delivery of this promise.

Emergence of three general practitioner contracting-in models in South Africa: a qualitative multi-case study

BackgroundThe general practitioner contracting initiative (GPCI) is a health systems strengthening initiative piloted in the first phase of national health insurance (NHI) implementation in South Africa as it progresses towards universal health coverage (UHC). GPCI aimed to address the shortage of doctors in the public sector by contracting-in private sector general practitioners (GPs) to render services in public primary health care clinics. This paper explores the early inception and emergence of the GPCI. It describes three models of contracting-in that emerged and interrogates key factors influencing their evolution.MethodsThis qualitative multi-case study draws on three cases. Data collection comprised document review, key informant interviews and focus group discussions with national, provincial and district managers as well as GPs (n = 68). Walt and Gilson’s health policy analysis triangle and Liu’s conceptual framework on contracting-out were used to explore the policy content, process, actors and contractual arrangements involved.ResultsThree models of contracting-in emerged, based on the type of purchaser: a centralized-purchaser model, a decentralized-purchaser model and a contracted-purchaser model. These models are funded from a single central source but have varying levels of involvement of national, provincial and district managers. Funds are channelled from purchaser to provider in slightly different ways. Contract formality differed slightly by model and was found to be influenced by context and type of purchaser. Conceptualization of the GPCI was primarily a nationally-driven process in a context of high-level political will to address inequity through NHI implementation. Emergence of the models was influenced by three main factors, flexibility in the piloting process, managerial capacity and financial management capacity.ConclusionThe GPCI models were iterations of the centralized-purchaser model. Emergence of the other models was strongly influenced by purchaser capacity to manage contracts, payments and recruitment processes. Findings from the decentralized-purchaser model show importance of local context, provincial capacity and experience on influencing evolution of the models. Whilst contract characteristics need to be well defined, allowing for adaptability to the local context and capacity is critical. Purchaser capacity, existing systems and institutional knowledge and experience in contracting and financial management should be considered before adopting a decentralized implementation approach.

‘First 1000 days’ health interventions in low- and middle-income countries: alignment of South African policies with high-quality evidence

ABSTRACT Background: In South Africa (SA), despite adoption of international strategies and approaches, maternal, neonatal and child (MNC) morbidity and mortality rates have not sufficiently declined. Objectives: To conduct an umbrella review (UR) that identifies interventions in low- and middle-income countries, with a high-quality evidence base, that improve MNC morbidity and mortality outcomes within the first 1000 days of life; and to assess the incorporation of the evidence into local strategies, guidelines and documents. Methods: We included publications about women and children in the first 1000 days of life; healthcare professionals and community members. Comparators were those who did not receive the intervention. Interventions were pharmacological and non-pharmacological. Outcomes were MNC morbidity and mortality. Authors conducted English language electronic and manual searches (2000–2013). The quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) were reviewed. Interventions were ranked according to level of evidence; and then aligned with SA strategies, policies and guidelines. A tool to extract data was developed and used by two authors who independently extracted data. Summary measures from MAs or summaries of SRs were reviewed and the specificities of the various interventions listed. A search of all local high-level documents was done and these were assessed to determine the specificities of the recommendations and their alignment to the evidence. Results: In total, 19 interventions presented in 32 SRs were identified. Overall, SA’s policymakers have sufficiently included high-quality evidence-based interventions into local policies. However, optimal period of birth spacing (two to five years) is not explicitly promoted nor was ante- and postnatal depression adequately incorporated. Antenatal care visits should be increased from four to about eight according to the evidence. Conclusion: Incorporation of existing evidence into policies can be strengthened in SA. The UR methods are useful to inform policymaking and identify research gaps. RESPONSIBLE EDITOR Nawi Ng, Umeå University, Sweden