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The impact of the scale-up of malaria rapid diagnostic tests on the routine clinical diagnosis procedures for febrile illness: a series of repeated cross-sectional studies in Papua New Guinea

Pulford, Justin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4756-8480, Kurumop, Serah, Mueller, Ivo, Siba, Peter M. and Hetzel, Manuel W. (2018) 'The impact of the scale-up of malaria rapid diagnostic tests on the routine clinical diagnosis procedures for febrile illness: a series of repeated cross-sectional studies in Papua New Guinea'. Malaria Journal, Vol 17, Issue 1, e202.

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Abstract

Background
This paper examines the impact of the scale-up of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) on routine clinical diagnosis procedures for febrile illness in primary healthcare settings in Papua New Guinea.

Methods
Repeat, cross-sectional surveys in randomly selected primary healthcare services were conducted. Surveys included passive observation of consecutive febrile case management cases and were completed immediately prior to RDT scale-up (2011) and at 12- (2012) and 60-months (2016) post scale-up. The frequency with which specified diagnostic questions and procedures were observed to occur, with corresponding 95% CIs, was calculated for febrile patients prescribed anti-malarials pre- and post-RDT scale-up and between febrile patients who tested either negative or positive for malaria infection by RDT (post scale-up only).

Results
A total of 1809 observations from 120 health facilities were completed across the three survey periods of which 915 (51%) were prescribed an anti-malarial. The mean number of diagnostic questions and procedures asked or performed, leading to anti-malarial prescription, remained consistent pre- and post-RDT scale-up (range 7.4–7.7). However, alterations in diagnostic content were evident with the RDT replacing body temperature as the primary diagnostic procedure performed (observed in 5.3 and 84.4% of cases, respectively, in 2011 vs. 77.9 and 58.2% of cases in 2016). Verbal questioning, especially experience of fever, cough and duration of symptoms, remained the most common feature of a diagnostic examination leading to anti-malarial prescription irrespective of RDT use (observed in 96.1, 86.8 and 84.8% of cases, respectively, in 2011 vs. 97.5, 76.6 and 85.7% of cases in 2016). Diagnostic content did not vary substantially by RDT result.

Conclusions
Rapid diagnostic tests scale-up has led to a reduction in body temperature measurement. Investigations are very limited when malaria infection is ruled out as a cause of febrile illness by RDT.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: WA Public Health > Preventive Medicine > WA 243 Diagnositic services
WA Public Health > WA 30 Socioeconomic factors in public health (General)
WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria
WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 755.1 General coverage
WL Nervous System > WL 300 General works (Include works on brain alone)
Faculty: Department: Clinical Sciences & International Health > International Public Health Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2351-0
SWORD Depositor: JISC Pubrouter
Depositing User: Stacy Murtagh
Date Deposited: 21 May 2018 09:34
Last Modified: 13 Sep 2019 14:48
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/8659

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