Routine Health Information System Data Quality and Associated Factors in Selected Public Health Facilitiesof Jigjiga Woreda, Somali Regional State's,Eastern Ethiopia

Background: Health data quality are limited within the health sectors of low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although public health decision-making is mainly dependent on the timely availability of quality data, the quality of healthdata is not satisfactory in some countries, including in the Somali Regional State. Therefore, this baseline assessment was aimed at assessing the level of data quality and its determinants in the public health sector of the Somali Regional State, Ethiopia. Methods: A baseline assessment was conducted as part of an implementation research project. The study was conducted in three selected public health facilities of the Jigjiga Woreda, including the Woreda Health Office and the Somali Regional Health Bureau. A total of 179 health care workers participated in the survey. Interviewer guided self-administered, record review, and observation data collection techniques were used for data collection. Data wasanalyzed using descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate logistic models to identify predictors of data quality. A P-value of 0.05 was used as the statistical significance cut-off point. Results:The overall data accuracy and content completeness in the studied facilities was88.12% and 75.75%, respectively. Data accuracy was 92.2% in the Karamara Hospital, 83.1% in Jigjiga Health Center, and 79.8% in the Ayardaga Health Center. Content completeness was 81.6% in the KaramaraHospital, 81.2% in the Jigjiga Health Center, and 69.7% in the Ayardaga health center. Forthe studied variables, the data recording value given by their immediate supervisors was a strong predictor of data accuracy in the study setting. The odds of thosewho felt thatdata recording was notvalued by supervisors had 0.26 times poorer data accuracy than their counterparts (AOR: 0.26, 95%CI: 0.10, 0.66). Conclusion:Both the accuracy and completeness of health data in Eastern Ethiopia were inadequate. As a result, health work force immediate supervisors and Performance Monitoring Teams (PMT) should undertake regular and ongoing supervision and provide timely feedback for corrective action. In addition, specialized training in data recording and documentation would be beneficial in bridging the gap between workers' skill. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2022;36 (SI-1)]

The Influenceof Parallel Reporting SystemsonData Quality and Information Use in Northwest Ethiopia: Qualitative Study

Background:Ethiopia utilisesthedistrict health information systemfor health information management. However,the lower level health structure seems inaccurate in comparisonto theparallel reportingsystem, withlimited evidence on its effect ondata quality and information use.Therefore,the present study aimed to assess the influence of a parallel reporting system on data quality and information use at the lower level structuresof the Amhara region, Northwest Ethiopia.Methods:The study was conducted in five districts of the Amhara region using an explanatory case study design. Twenty respondents were interviewed from the 1st­30thApril 2021,usinga semi-structured key informant interview(KII)guide with multiple probes to explore relevant information. The data was transcribed into English and transferred to the Open-Code 4.02 software for analysis. Textual data werecoded, and themes were identified from the synthesis. Inductive thematic analysis was applied to identify the relationships among the emerging themes in order todraw a relevant conclusion. Results:Five themeswere emerged fromthe analysis, includingthe current practice of parallel reporting, a program area of parallel reporting, the influence of parallel reporting, reasonsfor parallel reporting,and means to avoid parallel reporting.Likewise, parallelreportingwasdone at the district level and at the point of service delivery. The respondents described maternal and child health programs often usingparallel reporting. Parallel reporting was described as havingundesirable impacts on routinely collected health data quality and use. Moreover, it increases the work burden; andaffects service quality,the the satisfactionlevelsof clients and staff, and the overall efficiency. The main reasons for practicingparallel reporting were:missing important data elements in DHIS2, single language, varying stakeholders' interests, and lack of conductinga partnerforum.Conclusion and implication:Against the national health information system'sguiding principlesand vision, parallelreporting is practicedat the lower health system levelsfor various programs. Therefore, a corrective measure should be taken to achieve the country's information revolution (IR) agenda. To avoid parallel reporting mechanisms, it is recommended that regular partner forums at the district level must be strengthened, important data elements should beincorporated into the DHIS 2, and additional language platforms should be be included in theDHIS2 system.

Diagnostic accuracy of GeneXpert MTB/RIF in musculoskeletal tuberculosis: High sensitivity in tissue samples of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients

Background. GeneXpert MTB/RIF is useful for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in adults, but there is limited evidence on its usefulness in extrapulmonary TB.Objectives. To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of GeneXpert MTB/RIF in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients with suspected musculoskeletal TB.Methods. A prospective study of patients with suspected musculoskeletal (bone and joint) TB was undertaken. The diagnostic accuracy of GeneXpert MTB/RIF was compared with the reference standards of culture and histopathology.Results. A total of 206 biopsies from 201 patients (23% HIV-infected) were evaluated. The sensitivity and specificity of GeneXpert MTB/RIF was 92.3% (84/91) and 99.1% (114/115), respectively. GeneXpert MTB/RIF detected 8.8% more cases than culture (84/91 (92.3%) v. 76/91 (83.5%), respectively; p=0.069). GeneXpert MTB/RIF also detected all 4 multidrug-resistant TB cases and an additional 2 rifampicin-resistant cases in culture-negative samples. The sensitivity of GeneXpert MTB/RIF in HIV-infected patients was 96.9% (31/32) v. 89.6% (43/48) in HIV-uninfected patients (p=0.225).Conclusion. GeneXpert MTB/RIF is an accurate test for the detection of TB in tissue samples of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients with suspected musculoskeletal TB. A positive GeneXpert MTB/RIF result should be regarded as microbiological confirmation of TB

The quality of HIV/AIDS case-detection and case-reporting systems in Mozambique

Despite the underlying importance of surveillance systems for the management of HIV/AIDS prevention and control programmes,there has been limited analysis of the quality of HIV/AIDS case-detection and case-reporting systems, beginning with peripheral facilities through to those at national levels. In Mozambique, HIV cases are generally correctly detected despite some unreliable use of test kits beyond their expiry date, uneven distribution of test kits among facilities, frequent disregard for bio-safety mea sures and irregular external quality assessment. Furthermore, HIV/AIDS case-reporting is compromised by poor data quality, including under-reporting and discrepancies across different reporting channels and organisational levels, as well as a lack of standardised data forms, data items collected and report formats. Our analysis of HIV/AIDS surveillance systems in Mozambique leads to the following key recommendations: (1) a strengthening and standardisation of both the case-detection and case-reporting systems at all levels; (2) the regular training of staff at peripheral facilities, to allow for better testing and improved local data analysis,validation and interpretation; (3) the redesign of reporting systems for blood banks, including integration of the AIDS case-reportingsubsystems into one; and (4) the use of baseline data as a foundation for more comprehensive analysis across the country, in response to UNAIDS advice regarding second-generation HIV surveillance