A retrospective evaluation of the quality of malaria case management at twelve health facilities in four districts in Zambia

ABSTRACT

Objective: To establish the appropriateness of malaria case management at health facility level in four districts in Zambia. Methods: This study was a retrospective evaluation of the quality of malaria case management at health facilities in four districts conveniently sampled to represent both urban and rural settings in different epidemiological zones and health facility coverage. The review period was from January to December 2008. The sample included twelve lower level health facilities from four districts. The Pearson Chi-square test was used to identify characteristics which affected the quality of case management. Results: Out of 4 891 suspected malaria cases recorded at the 12 health facilities, more than 80% of the patients had a temperature taken to establish their fever status. About 67% (CI