Testing a simplified tool and training package to improve integrated Community Case Management in Tanganyika Province, Democratic Republic of Congo: a quasi-experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Integrated community case management (iCCM) is a strategy to train community health workers (relais communautaires or RECOs in French) in low-resource settings to provide treatment for uncomplicated malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea for children 2-59 months of age. The package of Ministry of Public Health tools for RECOs in the Democratic Republic of Congo that was being used in 2013 included seven data collection tools and job aids which were redundant and difficult to use. As part of the WHO-supported iCCM program, the International Rescue Committee developed and evaluated a simplified set of pictorial tools and curriculum adapted for low-literate RECOs. METHODS: The revised training curriculum and tools were tested in a quasi-experimental study, with 74 RECOs enrolled in the control group and 78 RECOs in the intervention group. Three outcomes were assessed during the study period from Sept. 2015-July 2016: 1) quality of care, measured by direct observation and reexamination; 2) workload, measured as the time required for each assessment - including documentation; and 3) costs of rolling out each package. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios for correct treatment by the intervention group compared to the control group, controlling for characteristics of the RECOs, the child, and the catchment area. RESULTS: Children seen by the RECOs in the intervention group had nearly three times higher odds of receiving correct treatment (adjusted odds ratio aOR = 2.9, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.3-6.3, P = 0.010). On average, the time spent by the intervention group was 10.6 minutes less (95% CI = 6.6-14.7, P < 0.001), representing 6.2 hours of time saved per month for a RECO seeing 35 children. The estimated cost savings amounts to over US$ 300 000 for a four-year program supporting 1500 RECOs. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that, at scale, simplified tools and a training package adapted for low-literate RECOs could substantially improve health outcomes for under-five children while reducing implementation costs and decreasing their workload. The training curriculum and simplified tools have been adopted nationally based on the results from this study.

Universal versus conditional day 3 follow-up for children with non-severe unclassified fever at the community level in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A cluster-randomized, community-based non-inferiority trial.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization's integrated community case management (iCCM) guidelines recommend that all children presenting with uncomplicated fever and no danger signs return for follow-up on day 3 following the initial consultation on day 1. Such fevers often resolve rapidly, however, and previous studies suggest that expectant home care for uncomplicated fever can be safely recommended. We aimed to determine if a conditional follow-up visit was non-inferior to a universal follow-up visit for these children. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a cluster-randomized, community-based non-inferiority trial among children 2-59 months old presenting to community health workers (CHWs) with non-severe unclassified fever in Tanganyika Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Clusters (n = 28) of CHWs were randomized to advise caregivers to either (1) return for a follow-up visit on day 3 following the initial consultation on day 1, regardless of illness resolution (as per current WHO guidelines; universal follow-up group) or (2) return for a follow-up visit on day 3 only if illness continued (conditional follow-up group). Children in both arms were assessed again at day 8, and classified as a clinical failure if fever (caregiver-reported), malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, or decline of health status (development of danger signs, hospitalization, or death) was noted (failure definition 1). Alternative failure definitions were examined, whereby caregiver-reported fever was first restricted to caregiver-reported fever of at least 3 days (failure definition 2) and then replaced with fever measured via axillary temperature (failure definition 3). Study participants, providers, and investigators were not masked. Among 4,434 enrolled children, 4,141 (93.4%) met the per-protocol definition of receipt of the arm-specific advice from the CHW and a timely day 8 assessment (universal follow-up group: 2,210; conditional follow-up group: 1,931). Failure was similar (difference: -0.7%) in the conditional follow-up group (n = 188, 9.7%) compared to the universal follow-up group (n = 230, 10.4%); however, the upper bound of a 1-sided 95% confidence interval around this difference (-∞, 5.1%) exceeded the prespecified non-inferiority margin of 4.0% (non-inferiority p = 0.089). When caregiver-reported fever was restricted to fevers lasting ≥3 days, failure in the conditional follow-up group (n = 159, 8.2%) was similar to that in the universal follow-up group (n = 200, 9.1%) (difference: -0.8%; 95% CI: -∞, 4.1%; p = 0.053). If caregiver-reported fever was replaced by axillary temperature measurement in the definition of failure, failure in the conditional follow-up group (n = 113, 5.9%) was non-inferior to that in the universal follow-up group (n = 160, 7.2%) (difference: -1.4%; 95% CI: -∞, 2.5%; p = 0.012). In post hoc analysis, when the definition of failure was limited to malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, development of danger signs, hospitalization, or death, failure in the conditional follow-up group (n = 108, 5.6%) was similar to that in the universal follow-up group (n = 147, 6.7%), and within the non-inferiority margin (95% CI: -∞, 2.9%; p = 0.017). Limitations include initial underestimation of the proportion of clinical failures as well as substantial variance in cluster-specific failure rates, reducing the precision of our estimates. In addition, heightened security concerns slowed recruitment in the final months of the study. CONCLUSIONS: We found that advising caregivers to return only if children worsened or remained ill on day 3 resulted in similar rates of caregiver-reported fever and other clinical outcomes on day 8, compared to advising all caregivers to return on day 3. Policy-makers could consider revising guidelines for management of uncomplicated fever within the iCCM framework. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02595827.

The use of counting beads to improve the classification of fast breathing in low-resource settings: a multi-country review.

To decrease child mortality due to common but life-threatening illnesses, community health workers (CHWs) are trained to assess, classify and treat sick children. For pneumonia, CHWs are trained to count the respiratory rate of a child with cough and/or difficulty breathing, and determine whether the child has fast breathing or not based on how the child's breath count relates to age-specific respiratory rate cut-off points. International organizations training CHWs to classify fast breathing realized that many of them faced challenges counting and determining how the respiratory rate relates to age-specific cut-off points. Counting beads were designed to overcome these challenges. This article presents findings from different studies on the utility of these beads, in conjunction with a timer, as a tool to improve classification of fast breathing. Studies conducted by the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children among illiterate CHWs assessed the effectiveness of counting beads to improve both counting and classifying respiratory rate against age-specific cut-off points. These studies found that the use of counting beads enabled and improved the assessment and classification of fast breathing. However, a Malaria Consortium study found that the use of counting beads decreased the accuracy of counting breaths among literate CHWs. Qualitative findings from these studies and two additional studies by UNICEF suggest that the design of the beads is crucial: beads should move comfortably, and a separate bead string, with colour coding, is required for the age groups with different cut-off thresholds-eliminating more complicated calculations. Further research, using standardized protocols and gold standard comparisons, is needed to understand the accuracy of beads in comparison to other tools used for classifying pneumonia, which CHWs benefit most from each different tool (i.e. disaggregating data by levels of literacy and numeracy) and what the impact is on improving appropriate treatment for pneumonia.

Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus infection, risk behavior, and HIV knowledge among tuberculosis patients in Afghanistan.

OBJECTIVES/GOAL: To assess prevalence and correlates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, risk factors, and HIV knowledge among tuberculosis patients in Afghanistan. STUDY DESIGN: Adult participants undergoing treatment for tuberculosis in this cross-sectional study completed a questionnaire and HIV testing between November 2005 and February 2006. Prevalence of HIV and high-risk behaviors were calculated, with correlates of high-risk behavior and relevant knowledge assessed. RESULTS: Of 1163 participants, 2 (0.2%, 95% CI: 0.0-0.6) were HIV-infected. Known risk factors for HIV infection, such as paying women for sex or male to male sexual contact, were rarely reported, though receipt of injections from a nonmedical provider was common (38%). Symptoms suspicious for sexually transmitted infection were reported by 5% of the population and were significantly associated with young (<26 years) age (OR: 3.2, 95% CI: 1.7-6.0). Relatively, a few participants had ever heard of HIV (23%) or condoms (25%). Condom use was significantly more frequent among those 26 and older (OR: 2.9, 95% CI: 1.7-5.2) and among male participants (OR: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.0-2.2). CONCLUSIONS: HIV prevalence among tuberculosis patients in Afghanistan is currently quite low. However, lack of knowledge of HIV and engaging in high-risk practices, particularly regarding health, make this group vulnerable. Health education sessions regarding HIV, sexually transmitted infection, and blood-borne infections should be implemented for tuberculosis patients during the treatment course.