Use of laboratory test results in patient management by clinicians in Malawi
African Journal of Laboratory Medicine
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Use of laboratory test results in patient management by clinicians in Malawi | |
| Creator | Moyo, Kundai Porter, Carol Chilima, Ben Mwenda, Reuben Kabue, Mark Zungu, Lutho Sarr, Abdoulaye | |
| Description | Background: Malawi has a high burden of infectious disease. The expansion of programmes targeting these diseases requires a strong laboratory infrastructure to support both diagnosis and treatment.Objectives: To assess the use of laboratory test results in patient management and to determine the requirements for improving laboratory services.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012 to survey practising clinicians.Two hospitals were purposively selected for observations of clinicians ordering laboratory tests. Twelve management-level key informants were interviewed. Descriptive statistics were conducted.Results: A total of 242 clinicians were identified and 216 (89%) were interviewed. Of these, 189 (87%) reported doubting laboratory test results at some point. Clinicians most often doubted the quality of haematology (67%), followed by malaria (53%) and CD4 (22%) test results. A total of 151 (70%) clinicians reported using laboratory tests results in patient management. Use of laboratory test results at all times in patient management varied by the type of health facility (P 0.001). Ninety-one percent of clinicians reported that laboratories required infrastructure improvement. During 97 observations of clinicians’ use of laboratory test results, 80 tests were ordered, and 73 (91%) of these were used in patient management. Key informants reported that the quality of laboratory services was good and useful, but that services were often unavailable.Conclusion: Gaps in the public laboratory system were evident. Key recommendations to enhance the use of laboratory test results in patient management were to strengthen the supply chain, reduce turn-around times, improve the test menu and improve the laboratory infrastructure. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2015-11-18 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/ajlm.v4i1.277 | |
| Source | African Journal of Laboratory Medicine; Vol 4, No 1 (2015); 8 pages 2225-2010 2225-2002 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/277/409
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/277/410
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/277/411
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/277/403
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