Adherence to severe malaria treatment guidelines in children at a Ugandan regional hospital: a baseline assessment for a malaria treatment quality improvement project.

BACKGROUND: Malaria is one of the most common causes of hospital admission and death in children under the age of five. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued guidelines for the identification and treatment of severe malaria. Evidence has shown that adherence to standardized malaria treatment protocols improves outcomes. As a baseline assessment in preparation for a malaria treatment quality improvement project, this study aimed to determine adherence to the WHO severe malaria treatment guidelines in children at a Ugandan Regional Referral Hospital. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on a convenience sample of children discharged between June 2021 and March 2022 from the Mbale Regional Referral Hospital Paediatrics Ward with a diagnosis of severe malaria. Data were collected using a standardized case report form. Demographics, presenting symptoms, laboratory results, treatments, length of stay, and mortality were extracted. Comparison of treatments received to items recommended in the WHO guidelines was undertaken to determine adherence. RESULTS: 147 patients were included. The median age was 5 years (IQR 2-7 years), and 55% were male. The most common features of severe malaria were haemoglobinuria (49%), haemoglobin < 5 mg/dL (34%), and altered mentation (24%). Median hospital length of stay was 3 days (IQR 2-4 days), and the mortality rate was 27% (n = 40). Overall adherence to all aspects of the WHO severe malaria guidelines was achieved in 3% (n = 4) of patients. The most common areas of deficiency were not testing to confirm malaria diagnosis (34%) and inadequate administration of artesunate (82%). Fewer than the three recommended doses of artesunate occurred in 22% of patients. Additionally, a delay in the administration of the second dose occurred in 67% (n = 78) and in the third dose in 77% (n = 71) of patients. While the recommended time between doses is 12 h, the median interval between dose one and dose two was 15 h (12-20) and the median interval from dose two to dose three was 17 h (14-25). CONCLUSIONS: Current adherence to severe malaria treatment guidelines in children at this Ugandan regional referral hospital is poor, but this study has identified target areas for improvement.

Establishing Trauma-Informed Primary Care: Qualitative Guidance from Patients and Staff in an Urban Healthcare Clinic.

Patients present to primary care clinics with a variety of experiences, including exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and other social determinants of health. The pervasive impact of early adversity on later healthcare outcomes has resulted in the development of trauma-informed care principles that can be applied to healthcare settings. The primary aim of this study is to improve understanding of patient and staff experiences within a trauma-informed urban healthcare setting to guide considerations and recommendations when implementing such a model. A phenomenologic approach was taken using an interpretivist paradigm to collect qualitative data by conducting patient and staff focus groups. The following themes were identified: the communal experience of significant trauma, lack of continuity of care and time for each appointment, the importance of a sense of community and standardization and normalization of asking about trauma, development of social support networks, and creating a safe and non-judgmental healthcare space. Based on findings, considerations for implementing a trauma-informed healthcare model are provided.

Use of Negative Pressure Ventilation in Pediatric Critical Care: Experience in 56 PICUs in the Virtual Pediatric Systems Database (2009-2019).

OBJECTIVES: Negative pressure ventilation may be more physiologic than positive pressure ventilation, but data describing negative pressure ventilation use in the PICU are limited. We aimed to describe the epidemiology and outcomes of PICU patients receiving negative pressure ventilation. DESIGN: Descriptive analysis of a large, quality-controlled multicenter database. SETTING: Fifty-six PICUs in the Virtual Pediatric Systems database who reported use of negative pressure ventilation. PATIENTS: Children admitted to a participating PICU between 2009 and 2019 who received negative pressure ventilation. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Among 788 subjects, 71% were less than 2 years old, and 45% had underlying health conditions. Two concurrent aspiration events were the only adverse events reported. After excluding one over-represented center, the 3 years with the most negative pressure ventilation usage were 2017-2019 (all > 25 cases/yr and ≥ 13 centers reporting usage). Among those 187 children, the most common primary diagnoses were bronchiolitis and cardiac disease (both 15.5%), 24.1% required endotracheal intubation after negative pressure ventilation, and 9.1% died. CONCLUSIONS: Negative pressure ventilation is being used in many PICUs, most commonly for pulmonary infections or cardiac disease, in children with high rates of subsequent intubation and mortality and with few documented adverse events. Use at individual centers is rare but increasing, suggesting need for prospective collaboration to better evaluate the role of negative pressure ventilation in the PICU.