Perception and experience of clinicians and caregivers in treating childhood severe pneumonia and hypoxemia using bubble continuous positive airway pressure in Ethiopian tertiary and general hospitals.

BACKGROUND: In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), severe pneumonia with hypoxemia is the leading cause of child deaths, even with the provision of WHO-recommended antibiotic therapy, oxygen therapy and other supportive care. Previous studies found positive outcomes from the use of bubble continuous positive airway pressure (bCPAP) for treating these children compared to the standard oxygen therapy. Due to lack of data on the perceptions and experiences of hospital health care workers and caregivers of children on the feasibility and acceptability of bCPAP in treating children with severe pneumonia and hypoxemia in real-life settings, we examined these issues in tertiary and general hospitals in Ethiopia. METHODS: As part of a three-stages clinical trial, this qualitative study was conducted in two tertiary (stage I) and two general (stage II) hospitals from September 2019 to July 2020. During stages I and II, we have consecutively enrolled children with severe pneumonia and hypoxemia and put them on bCPAP to examine its feasibility and acceptability by clinicians and parents. A total of 89 children were enrolled (49 from two tertiary and 40 from two general hospitals). Then qualitative data were collected through 75 repeated in-depth interviews by social-science experts with purposively selected 30 hospital health workers and 15 parents of 12 children who received bCPAP oxygen therapy in the hospitals. Interview data were supplemented by 6 observations in the hospitals. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. RESULTS: Identified structural and functional challenges for the introduction of bCPAP in treating childhood severe pneumonia and hypoxemia in the study hospitals include: inadequate number of pulse oximeters; unavailability of nasal prongs with age-specific size; inadequate and non-functioning oxygen flow meters, concentrator, and cylinders; disruption in power-supply; and inadequate number of staff. The opportunities in introducing bCPAP oxygen therapy included the availability of a dedicated corner for the study patients situated in front of nurse's station, required medicines and satisfactory level of clinicians' knowledge and skills for treating severe pneumonia patients. Additionally, the identified operational challenges were occasional lack of bubbling in the water-filled plastic bottle, lack of stand for holding the water-filled plastic bottle, and delayed shifting of oxygen source from an oxygen concentrator to a cylinder, particularly during electricity disruption. Participants (clinicians and parents) expressed their satisfaction as bCPAP oxygen therapy was found to be simple to handle, children had ease of breathing and recovered fast without major ill effects. CONCLUSION: Our study identified some important structural, functional, and operational challenges that need to be addressed before implementation of bCPAP oxygen therapy especially in frontline general hospitals with limited resources. In spite of these observed challenges, the clinicians and caregivers were highly satisfied with the overall performance of bCPAP oxygen therapy.

Bilateral Large Pulmonary Hydatid Cyst: A Rare Presentation in a Young Child from Ethiopia.

Hydatidosis is a parasitic disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus, which is endemic in many parts of the world. Hydatid cysts can occur in any organ of the human body and the lung is the most common site in children, primarily related to higher lung tissue elasticity. Bilateral pulmonary hydatid cyst is a rare clinical phenomenon in young children. Here, we report on a 3-year-old boy diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary hydatid cyst after he came with four months history of dry cough and progressive worsening of shortness of breath. Computed tomography of the chest revealed large bilateral thick-walled pulmonary cystic mass lesions, with bilateral perihilar extension and pressure effect on the diaphragm with surrounding atelectatic changes. The patient underwent left posterolateral thoracotomy and cyst excision was done for the left hydatid cyst. Two months after the first surgical cyst excision, right posterolateral thoracotomy and cystectomy was done for the right lung hydatid cyst. He recovered well post-operatively.

Perceptions towards childhood asthma and barriers to its management among patients, caregivers and healthcare providers: a qualitative study from Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: The management of asthma, which is one of the major causes of childhood morbidity and mortality has been affected by non-adherence to recommended treatment regimens with severe consequences. The aim of the present study was therefore to explore the perceptions of the children with asthma, their caregivers and their healthcare providers towards asthma and barriers to long term childhood asthma management in an institutional setting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive design was followed for the present study that used individual interviews as a data collection method. The study participants were 23 pairs of children with asthma that had treatment follow-ups in two tertiary hospitals and their caregivers and eight healthcare providers who cared for these children. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: The study findings revealed that the children's reported adherence to the recommended treatment regimens was low and they along with their caregivers were facing physical, emotional and social burdens related to asthma. Some of the influencing factors affecting childhood asthma management were found to be the low-level implementation of the asthma management guidelines by the healthcare providers, limited awareness about asthma and its management by the children and their caregivers, use of traditional home remedies and religious healing on a complementary and alternative basis and inadequate education received from healthcare professionals. Further identified barriers to the adherence of especially inhaled corticosteroids appear to be the low necessity beliefs towards chronic administration of treatment regimens and concerns related with difficulty of administration, fear of side effects and general negative attitude towards it, in addition to their low availability and affordability. CONCLUSIONS: Low awareness of the biomedical treatment regimens and use of traditional home remedies and religious healing by the children with asthma and their caregivers, the low-level implementation of the asthma management guidelines as well as low access to medications may among other things contribute to the low adherence of the children to their recommended regimens. The findings support the need for implementation of asthma management guidelines, institution of strong asthma care and education programs that are sensitive to local and individual patients' and caregiver perceptions and experiences including emotional distress, the need to institute chronic care approach and ways to address patients' medication access issues.

The prevalence of malnutrition during admission to the pediatric intensive care unit, a retrospective cross-sectional study at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Introduction: malnutrition is a common problem in Ethiopia. Studies show malnourished children in intensive care units succumb more often to infection and death but Ethiopia has no available data to assess the prevalence of malnutrition in children admitted to pediatric Intensive Care Unit and their clinical patterns, this study was conducted to assess these variables in a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia. Methods: this was a retrospective cross sectional study done on 243 children, ranging from 1 month to 15 years of age, from January 2016 to December 2018. Anthropometric interpretation was done using WHO Z score charts. The assessed outcome variables were death, length of stay in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), days on mechanical ventilator and hospital acquired infection. Collected data was entered and analyzed using SPSS 20.0 version. Results: the overall prevalence of wasting was 37.8% (n=92). Stunting was seen in 45.7% (n=111). Compared to well-nourished children, malnourished children were more likely to require mechanical ventilation (78.3% versus 66.2% OR-2, p=0.045), experience longer time on mechanical ventilation (10.3±13.2 days versus 6.1±7.9 days, p=0.012), develop hospital acquired infection (HAI) more often (30.4% versus 19.2%, p=0.045), and have a prolonged length of stay (10.7±16.4 days versus 6.1±8.4 days, p=0.005). Conclusion: malnutrition in our PICU was identified to be a common cause of morbidity associated with greater need for mechanical ventilation, prolonged ventilator days, increased HAI, and longer hospital stays. Taking into consideration scarcity of resources, malnutrition imposes great burden on clinical care.