Development of an emergency medical services system in Thailand: Roles of the universal health coverage and the national lead agency.

This paper describes how the Thai health sector developed nationwide emergency medical services (EMS), despite limited resources and we try to extract lessons applicable to other resource-constrained settings. The government of Thailand has strengthened EMS by integrating it into the general healthcare system and formulating a national development plan and lead agency for EMS. The government emphasized the deployment of low-cost basic-level EMS units stationed near the communities, named as 'first-responder units'. In Khon Kaen Province, which has led the nationwide EMS development of Thailand, the availability of EMS (number of EMS units) and utilisation of EMS (proportion of severe trauma patients transported to hospital by EMS) greatly increased from 2000 to 2017. This success is due to the emphasis on the first-responder units through consistent national policies.

Utilization of injury care case studies: a systematic review of the World Health Organization's "Strengthening care for the injured: Success stories and lessons learned from around the world".

OBJECTIVE: Translation of evidence to practice is a public health priority. Worldwide, injury is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Case study publications are common and provide potentially reproducible examples of successful interventions in healthcare from the patient to systems level. However, data on how well case study publications are utilized are limited. To our knowledge, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the only collection of international case studies on injury care at the policy level. We aimed to determine the degree to which these injury care case studies have been translated to practice and to identify opportunities for enhancement of the evidence-to-practice pathway for injury care case studies overall. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review across 19 databases by searching for the title, "Strengthening care for the injured: Success stories and lessons learned from around the world." Data synthesis included realist narrative methods and two authors independently reviewed articles for injury topics, reference details, and extent of utilization. FINDINGS: Forty-seven publications referenced the compilation of case studies, 20 of which included further descriptions of one or more of the specific cases and underwent narrative review. The most common category utilized was hospital-based care (15 publications), with the example of Thailand's quality improvement (QI) programme (10 publications) being the most commonly cited case. Also frequently cited were case studies on prehospital care (10 publications). There was infrequent utilization of case studies on rehabilitation (3 publications) and trauma systems (2 publications). No reference described a case translated to a new scenario. CONCLUSIONS: The only available collection of policy-level injury care case studies has been utilized to a moderate extent however we found no evidence of case study translation to a new circumstance. QI programs seem especially amenable for knowledge-sharing through case studies. Prehospital care also showed promise. Greater emphasis on rehabilitation and health policy related to trauma systems is warranted. There is also a need for greater methodologic rigor in evaluation of the use of case study collections in general.

Implementation of the World Health Organization Trauma Care Checklist Program in 11 Centers Across Multiple Economic Strata: Effect on Care Process Measures.

BACKGROUND: Trauma contributes more than ten percent of the global burden of disease. Initial assessment and resuscitation of trauma patients often requires rapid diagnosis and management of multiple concurrent complex conditions, and errors are common. We investigated whether implementing a trauma care checklist would improve care for injured patients in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. METHODS: From 2010 to 2012, the impact of the World Health Organization (WHO) Trauma Care Checklist program was assessed in 11 hospitals using a stepped wedge pre- and post-intervention comparison with randomly assigned intervention start dates. Study sites represented nine countries with diverse economic and geographic contexts. Primary end points were adherence to process of care measures; secondary data on morbidity and mortality were also collected. Multilevel logistic regression models examined differences in measures pre- versus post-intervention, accounting for patient age, gender, injury severity, and center-specific variability. RESULTS: Data were collected on 1641 patients before and 1781 after program implementation. Patient age (mean 34 ± 18 vs. 34 ± 18), sex (21 vs. 22 % female), and the proportion of patients with injury severity scores (ISS) ≥ 25 (10 vs. 10 %) were similar before and after checklist implementation (p > 0.05). Improvement was found for 18 of 19 process measures, including greater odds of having abdominal examination (OR 3.26), chest auscultation (OR 2.68), and distal pulse examination (OR 2.33) (all p < 0.05). These changes were robust to several sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of the WHO Trauma Care Checklist was associated with substantial improvements in patient care process measures among a cohort of patients in diverse settings.

Assessment of trauma quality improvement activities at public hospitals in Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Given the current exceptional burden of injury in Thailand, the proven efficacy of quality improvement programs, and the current scarcity of national-level information on trauma quality improvement program (TQIP) implementation in Thailand, we aimed to examine the use of TQIPs and barriers to TQIP adoption in Thai public trauma centers. METHODS: We distributed a survey to 110 public hospitals which are designated to provide trauma care in Thailand. The survey assessed the presence or absence of the four core elements of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended TQIPs (morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferences, preventable death panels, trauma registries, and audit filters), and provider perception of barriers and priorities in TQIP implementation. RESULTS: Responses were received from 80 (72%) respondents. Seventy-two (90%) reported having a trauma registry and seventy (88%) respondents reported use of audit filters. Seventy (88%) respondents reported conducting regular M&M conferences, and 45 (56%) respondents reported the presence of preventable death panels. Thirty-eight (48%) respondents reported presence of all four elements of WHO TQIPs. The most commonly reported barriers to implementing TQIPs were lack of interest (55; 68%) and lack of time (39; 48%)to implement TQIPs. Audit filters were reported by only 25 (31%) of respondents and optimization of audit filters was the most frequently identified next-step in further development of TQIP. CONCLUSIONS: Just under half of responding Thai public trauma centers reported implementation of all four elements of the WHO recommended TQIPs. Priority strategies to facilitate TQIP maturation in Thailand should address staff motivation, provision of staff time for TQIP development, and optimization of audit filter use to monitor quality of care.

FACTORS RELATED TO MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT RISK BEHAVIOR AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN NORTHEASTERN THAILAND.

Young motorcycle drivers in Thailand are at high risk for road traffic accidents. We conducted this study to identify factors associated with motorcycle accident risk behavior (MARB). We studied 372 randomly selected university students aged 18-22 years (mean 20.2 years; women comprised 68.0% of our participants), who attend a government university in northeastern Thailand. Each student was asked to fill out a questionnaire asking about MARB and factors associated with this behavior. The respondents had an average of 6.2 years (SD+3.09) motorcycle driving experience, 72.3% had a motorcycle driver's license and 83.0% had accident insurance. The prevalence of self-reported motorcycle accident injuries was 42.7%. Their major MARB were using a telephone while driving (69.3%), speeding (45.4%), driving with more than one passenger (40.1%), drunk driving (22.1%), and not wearing a helmet (23.3%). Factors related to MARB were: gender, with men engaged in risky behavior more often than women (p < 0.05); duration of motorcycle driving--drivers with > 5 years experience were more likely to engage in risky behavior (p < 0.05); and knowledge of safe driving, those with a greater knowledge of safe driving were more likely to drive safely (p < 0.001). Having a greater awareness of MARB was associated with lower risk of engaging in risky behavior (p < 0.001). Students who engaged in risky behavior were more likely to view it as normal behavior (p < 0.001) and less likely to have adequate self-control (p < 0.001). Our findings indicate a need to strengthen accident prevention programs for university students in northeastern Thailand.

Road traffic injuries in Thailand: current situation.

BACKGROUND: Road traffic injuries are a major public health problem in Thailand. The number of mortalities, morbidities and disabilities are huge, greatly affecting the individual victims, the families, society and the nation as a whole. OBJECTIVE: To study the current situation regarding traffic injuries in Thailand. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Retrospective study from multiple national data sources RESULTS: For over ten years, the annual death toll due to road accidents has been more than ten thousand Thais. The situation remains critical with a higher mortality and morbidity than many other low or middle income countries. Two-thirds of the victims were males: 80% were under 40 years of age. Most (80%) of the injured and dead were motorcyclists. The large number of traffic crashes, injuries, disabilities and deaths resulted in more than 168 thousand million Baht in economic losses in 2002. These losses are trending to increase. CONCLUSION: Traffic injuries are a persistent major public health concern primarily because of a lack of adherence to the use of safety restraints and obedience of traffic laws. The nation must not hesitate to increase efforts to address these problems, as they are costing life and limb of Thais every hour of every day, as well as adding a huge economic burden.

Trauma quality improvement in low and middle income countries of the Asia-Pacific region: a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Quality Improvement (QI) programs have been shown to be a valuable tool to strengthen care of severely injured patients, but little is known about them in low and middle income countries (LMIC). We sought to explore opportunities to improve trauma QI activities in LMIC, focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. METHODS: We performed a mixed methods research study using both inductive thematic analysis of a meeting convened at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Melbourne, Australia, November 21-22, 2010 and a pre-meeting survey to explore experiences with trauma QI activities in LMIC. Purposive sampling was employed to invite participants with demonstrated leadership in trauma care to provide diverse representation of organizations and countries within Asia-Pacific. RESULTS: A total of 22 experts participated in the meeting and reported that trauma QI activities varied between countries and organizations: morbidity and mortality conferences (56 %), monitoring complications (31 %), preventable death studies (25 %), audit filters (19 %), and statistical methods for analyzing morbidity and mortality (6 %). Participants identified QI gaps to include paucity of reliable/valid injury data, lack of integrated trauma QI activities, absence of standards of care, lack of training in QI methods, and varying cultures of quality and safety. The group highlighted barriers to QI: limited engagement of leaders, organizational diversity, limited resources, heavy clinical workload, and medico-legal concerns. Participants proposed establishing the Asia-Pacific Trauma Quality Improvement Network (APTQIN) as a tool to facilitate training and dissemination of QI methods, injury data management, development of pilot QI projects, and advocacy for quality trauma care. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides the first description of trauma QI practices, gaps in existing practices, and barriers to QI in LMIC of the Asia-Pacific region. In this study we identified opportunities for addressing these challenges, and that work will be supported by APTQIN.

The development of simple survival prediction models for blunt trauma victims treated at Asian emergency centers.

BACKGROUND: For real-time assessment of the probability of survival (Ps) of blunt trauma victims at emergency centers, this study aimed to establish regression models for estimating Ps using simplified coefficients. METHODS: The data of 10,210 blunt trauma patients not missing both the binary outcome data about survival and the data necessary for Ps calculation by The Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) method were extracted from the Japan Trauma Data Bank (2004-2007) and analyzed. Half (5,113) of the data was allocated to a derivation data set, with the other half (5,097) allocated to a validation data set. The data of 6,407 blunt trauma victims from the trauma registry of Khon Kaen Regional Hospital in Thailand were analyzed for validation. The logistic regression models included age, the Injury Severity Score (ISS), the Glasgow Coma Scale score (GCS), systolic blood pressure (SBP), respiratory rate (RR), and their coded values (cAGE, 0-1; cISS, 0-4; cSBP, 0-4; cGCS, 0-4; cRR, 0-4) as predictor variables. The coefficients were simplified by rounding off after the decimal point or choosing 0.5 if the coefficients varied across 0.5. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUROCC) was calculated for each model to measure discriminant ability. RESULTS: A group of formulas (log (Ps/1-Ps) = logit (Ps) = -9 + cISS - cAGE + cSBP + cGCS + cRR/2, where -9 becomes -7 if the predictor variable of cRR or cISS is missing) was developed. Using these formulas, the AUROCCs were between 0.950 and 0.964. When these models were applied to the Khon Kean data, their AUROCCs were greater than 0.91. CONCLUSION: These equations allow physicians to perform real-time assessments of survival by easy mental calculations at Asian emergency centers, which are overcrowded with blunt injury victims of traffic accidents.

Modification of the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) method provides better survival prediction in Asian blunt trauma victims.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the present study was to identify logistic regression models with better survival prediction than the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) method in assessing blunt trauma (BT) victims in Japan and Thailand. An additional aim was to demonstrate the feasibility of probability of survival (Ps) estimation without respiratory rate (RR) on admission, which is often missing or unreliable in Asian countries. METHODS: We used BT patient data (n = 15,524) registered in the Japan Trauma Data Bank (JTDB, 2005-2008). We also extracted data on BT patients injured in the Khon Kaen District between January 2005 and December 2008 (n = 6,411) from the Khon Kaen Hospital Trauma Registry. For logistic regression analyses, we chose the Injury Severity Score (ISS), age year (AY), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, systolic blood pressure (SBP), RR, and their coded values (c) as explanatory variables, as well as the Revised Trauma Score (RTS). We estimated parameters by the method of maximum likelihood estimation, and utilized Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC), the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCC), and accuracy for model comparison. A model having the lower AIC is considered to be the better model. RESULTS: The AIC of the model using AY was lower than that of the model using the coded value for AY (cAY) (used by the TRISS method). The model using ISS, AY and cGCS, cSBP, and cRR instead of the RTS demonstrated the lowest AIC in both data groups. The same trend could be observed in the AUROCCs and the accuracies. In the Khon Kaen data, we found no additional reduction of the AIC in the model using the cRR variable compared to the model without cRR. CONCLUSIONS: For better prediction of Ps, the actual number of the AY should be used as an explanatory variable instead of the coded value (used by the TRISS method). The logistic regression model using the ISS, AY, and coded values of SBP, GCS, and RR estimates the best prediction. Information about RR seems to be unimportant for survival prediction in BT victims in Asian countries.

What World Health Assembly Resolution 60.22 means to those who care for the injured.

On May 23, 2007, the World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted WHA Resolution 60.22, "Health Systems: Emergency Care Systems," which called on the World Health Organization (WHO) and governments to adopt a variety of measures to strengthen trauma and emergency care services worldwide. This resolution constituted some of the highest level attention ever devoted to trauma care worldwide. This article reviews the background of this resolution and discusses how it can be of use to surgeons, emergency physicians, and others who care for the injured, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Temporal distribution of motorcyclist injuries and risk of fatalities in relation to age, helmet use, and riding while intoxicated in Khon Kaen, Thailand.

This study investigated the temporal distribution of risky behaviors among injured motorcyclists, that is, riding unhelmeted or while intoxicated, and showed how they are associated with risk of fatal injuries. Data of motorcyclists injured in Khon Kaen municipality in northeastern Thailand and transferred to Khon Kaen Regional Hospital were obtained from the trauma registry system of the hospital. Case fatalities were compared by time of day, age group, helmet use, and alcohol intoxication. Unhelmeted riding peaked late in the evening and riding while intoxicated peaked around midnight. Both were associated with increased fatality risk after stratification by time of day; the odds ratios were 3.49 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.48-9.36) and 3.01 (CI = 1.71-5.19), respectively. Nighttime injuries were not significantly associated with increased fatality risk after stratification by helmet use or alcohol intoxication. Unhelmeted driving was prevalent and associated with higher fatality risk among younger drivers, whereas intoxicated driving was less prevalent among teens but associated with increased risk among those aged 20-39 years. This study shows that riding unhelmeted or while intoxicated can explain the increased fatality risk at night, suggesting that safety education or enforcements should be targeted at specific age groups and appropriate times.

Costs of medical services for patients with HIV/AIDS in Khon Kaen, Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the savings and cost of providing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to adult patients with AIDS under Universal Coverage (UC) in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. DESIGN: Micro-costing of outpatient and inpatient services of two referral hospitals, and cost modelling. SETTING: Khon Kaen Regional Hospital and Northeast Regional Infectious Hospital. PATIENTS: Adult patients who resided in Khon Kaen and made outpatient visits at and/or those who were discharged from those hospitals from 1 December 2001 to 28 February 2002. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The average cost per outpatient visit and per inpatient day. Based on these figures, the savings and cost of providing HAART to adult patients with AIDS under UC at outpatient settings in this province were estimated. RESULTS: The average cost per outpatient visit with and without antiretroviral drugs (ARV) was US$294.2 and US$26.1, respectively. The average cost per inpatient day with and without ARV drugs was US$368.1 and US$43.8, respectively. The net annual cost of HAART was estimated to be US$5 674 629. This is equivalent to 20.0% of the annual UC budget for adults in this province in 2002. Sensitivity analysis and projection to the year 2006 were conducted. CONCLUSION: A large increase in the budget would be required to provide HAART to all adult patients with AIDS under UC. However, the sensitivity analysis showed it would be an affordable policy option if low-cost antiretroviral drugs were successfully introduced. This type of analysis would be useful to assess the financial implications of providing HAART in public health systems worldwide.

Study on performance following Key Performance Indicators for trauma care: Khon Kaen Hospital 2000.

This study was conducted in 2000-2001 in order to improve the quality of trauma care by establishing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as a guideline in providing trauma care service and to study the personnel's performance following 27 indexes of KPIs for trauma care in Khon Kaen Hospital. After the implementation of the KPIs by the method of participatory action research (PAR), the trauma preventable death rate was decreased to 1.3 per cent which was statistically different from the preventable death rate in 1997 (2.0%).

Effect of the helmet act for motorcyclists in Thailand.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the effect of the helmet act for motorcyclists on increasing helmet use and reducing motorcycle-related deaths and severe injuries in Thailand. METHODS: Data were derived from a trauma registry at the Khon Kaen Regional Hospital in the northeast Thailand. Helmet use and outcome in motorcycle crashes were compared 2 years before (1994-1995) and after (1996-1997) enforcement of the helmet act. During the study period, there were 12002 injured motorcyclists including 129 death cases in the municipality of Khon Kaen Province who were brought to the regional hospital. RESULTS: After enforcement of the helmet act, helmet-wearers increased five-fold while head injuries decreased by 41.4% and deaths by 20.8%. Those who had head or neck injuries or died were less likely wearing a helmet. Compliance of helmet use was lower at night. Fatality of injured motorcyclists did not significantly decrease in the post-act period and among helmet-wearers. CONCLUSION: Enforcement of the helmet act increased helmet-wearers among motorcyclists but helmet use did not significantly reduce deaths among injured motorcyclists. Motorcyclists should be instructed to properly and consistently wear a helmet for their safety.