Quality care management of febrile illnesses among children under 5 years in Atwima Kwanwoma district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana
Date
NOVEMBER, 2019
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Abstract
Introduction
Febrile illnesses in children and its management (especially infectious diseases) continue to
result in an enormous increase in morbidity and mortality in developing countries causing a
global public health concern. However, most low-middle-income countries have failed to
institute systematic outcome assessment measures to ensure quality in the management of these
conditions at one breadth. This study therefore aimed at assessing the quality care management
of febrile illness in under five (5) in health facilities in the Atwima Kwanwoma district of
Ashanti Region, Ghana.
Methods
The study was quantitative using a cross-sectional study design. Data were collected from 58
healthcare providers and 390 folders of children treated for febrile illnesses. Data were
analyzed using STATA version 14. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to
identify socio-demographic, patient and prescribers’ factors influencing the management of
febrile illness among children under 5 years. Statistical significance for all testing was set as
0.05.
Results
More than fifty percent (68.4%) of the overall management of the febrile illnesses were
classified as appropriate in accordance with the WHO/UNICEF IMCI guidelines. Issues of
Scarcity or shortage of qualified employees; leadership interference; dissatisfaction from health
care professionals; location-based challenges, absence of WHO/UNICEF guidelines for fevers
management, Artemether Lumefantrine Dosing wall chart, stockout of Artemether
Lumefantrine and Amoxicillin in some facilities were identified as some of the challenges
inhibiting quality care management. Prescribers’ factors such as belief in superstition (pvalue=0.02) and patients’ socio-demographic factors such as the age of child below 1 year (pvalue= 0.04) and gender (p-value=0.02) were established to influence quality care management
of febrile illnesses.
Conclusion
The study concludes that the quality of management of febrile illnesses was not impressive
and required urgent attention. Stakeholders within the healthcare industry should come
together and introduce policies that focus on improving the diagnostic and treatment capacity
of healthcare facilities.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Economics, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Masters of Public Health, Health Services Planning and Management.
Keywords
Febrile illnesses, Children, Atwima Kwanwoma district, Ashanti region, Ghana