Outcomes of pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest in the emergency department of a tertiary referral hospital in Tanzania: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure performed to restore heart function to minimize anoxic injury to the brain following cardiac arrest. Despite the establishment of emergency department and training on Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) the outcomes of pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest have not been documented. We ought to determine the outcomes and factors associated with 24-h survival after pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrests at MNH in Tanzania. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of all patients aged 1 month to 18 years who had in-hospital cardiac arrests (IHCA) prompting CPR in the Emergency Medicine Department (EMD) at MNH, Tanzania from January 2016 to December 2019. Data was collected from electronic medical record (Wellsoft) system using a standardized and pretested data collection form that recorded clinical baseline, pre-arrest, arrest, and post-arrest parameters. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the influence of each factor on 24-h survival. RESULTS: A total of 11,951 critically ill patients were screened, and 257 (2.1%) had cardiac arrest at EMD. Among 136 patients enrolled, the median age was 1.5 years (interquartile range: 0.5-3 years) years, and the majority 108 (79.4%) aged ≤ 5 years, and 101 (74.3%) had been referred from peripheral hospitals. Overall stained return of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 70 (51.5%) patients, 24-h survival was attained in 43 (31.3%) of patients, and only 7 patients (5.2%) survived to hospital discharge. Factors independently associated with 24-h survival were CPR event during the day/evening (p = 0.033), duration of CPR ≤ 20 min (p = 0.000), reversible causes of cardiac arrest being identified (p = 0.001), and having assisted/mechanical ventilation after CPR (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: In our cohort of children with cardiac arrest, survival to hospital discharge was only 5%. Factors associated with 24-h survival were CPR events during the daytime, short duration of CPR, recognition of reversible causes of cardiac arrest, and receiving mechanical ventilation. Future studies should explore the detection of decompensation, the quality of CPR, and post-cardiac arrest care on the outcomes of IHCA.

Fall injuries in Sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of prospective injury registry from 23 health facilities in Malawi and Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Low-and middle-income countries account for over 80% of fall-related fatalities globally. However there is little emphasis on the issue and limited high quality data to understand the burden, and to inform preventive and management strategies. We characterise the burden of fall injuries in Malawi and Tanzania. METHODS: This multi-centre prospective descriptive study utilized trauma registry data from 10 hospitals in Malawi and 13 hospitals in Tanzania. The study included twelve months of data in Tanzania (October 2019 to September 2020), and eighteen months of data from Malawi (September 2018 to March 2020). We describe patient demographics, the causes, location, and nature of injuries, timing of arrival to hospital, and final disposition. Regression analyses were performed to determine risk factors for serious injuries. RESULTS: There were 93,178 trauma patients in the registries of both countries, of which 44,609 (47.9%) had fall related complaints. Fall injuries accounted for 55.3% and 17.4% of all trauma cases in Malawi and Tanzania respectively. Overall the median age was 16 years (Interquartile range (IQR) 8-31 years), and 62.8% were male. Most fall injuries (69.9%) occurred at home, were unintentional (98.1%), and were due to a ground level fall (74.9%). Nearly half of patients (47.9%) arrived at a facility using public transport, with median arrival time of 10 h (IQR 8-13 h) from initial injury. Extremities (87.0%) were the most commonly injured region, followed by head and neck (4.4%). Overall 3275 (7.4%) patients had potentially serious injuries. Age > 60 years was associated with two times odds of having serious injuries than those < 5 years, and those sustaining injury at work (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) 1.95 95% CI; 1.56-2.43) or recreational areas (aOR 3.47 95% CI; 2.93-4.10) had higher odds of serious injuries compared to those injured at home. CONCLUSIONS: In these facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa, fall injuries accounted for a substantial fraction of all injuries. While most common in younger males, those aged 5-13 and over 60 years were more likely to have serious injuries. Most falls occurred at home, but serious injuries were more likely to occur at recreational and work areas. Future efforts should focus on preventive strategies to mitigate these injuries.

Critical illness at the emergency department of a Tanzanian national hospital in a three-year period 2019-2021.

BACKGROUND: Critically ill patients have life-threatening conditions requiring immediate vital organ function intervention. But, critical illness in the emergency department (ED) has not been comprehensively described in resource-limited settings. Understanding the characteristics and dynamics of critical illness can help hospitals prepare for and ensure the continuum of care for critically ill patients. This study aimed to describe the pattern and outcomes of critically ill patients at the ED of the National Hospital in Tanzania from 2019 to 2021. METHODOLOGY: This hospital-records-based retrospective cohort study analyzed records of all patients who attended the ED of Muhimbili National Hospital between January 2019 and December 2021. Data extracted from the ED electronic database included clinical and demographic information, diagnoses, and outcome status at the ED. Critical illness in this study was defined as either a severe derangement of one or more vital signs measured at triage or the provision of critical care intervention. Data were analyzed using Stata 17 to examine critical illnesses' burden, characteristics, first-listed diagnosis, and outcomes at the ED. RESULTS: Among the 158,445 patients who visited the ED in the study period, 16,893 (10.7%) were critically ill. The burden of critical illness was 6,346 (10.3%) in 2019, 5,148 (10.9%) in 2020, and 5,400 (11.0%) in 2021. Respiratory (18.8%), cardiovascular (12.6%), infectious diseases (10.2%), and trauma (10.2%) were the leading causes of critical illness. Most (81.6%) of the critically ill patients presenting at the ED were admitted or transferred, of which 11% were admitted to the ICUs and 89% to general wards. Of the critically ill, 4.8% died at the ED. CONCLUSION: More than one in ten patients attending the Tanzanian National Hospital emergency department was critically ill. The number of critically ill patients did not increase during the pandemic. The majority were admitted to general hospital wards, and about one in twenty died at the ED. This study highlights the burden of critical illness faced by hospitals and the need to ensure the availability and quality of emergency and critical care throughout hospitals.

Predictors and outcome of time to presentation among critically ill paediatric patients at Emergency Department of Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Mortality among under-five children in Tanzania remains high. While early presentation for treatment increases likelihood of survival, delays to care are common and factors causing delay to presentation among critically ill children are unknown. In this study delay was defined as presentation to the emergency department of tertially hospital i.e. Muhimbili National Hospital, more than 48 h from the onset of the index illness. METHODOLOGY: This was a prospective cohort study of critically ill children aged 28 days to 14 years attending emergency department at Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania from September 2019 to January 2020. We documented demographics, time to ED presentation, ED interventions and 30-day outcome. The primary outcome was the association of delay with mortality and secondary outcomes were predictors of delay among critically ill paediatric patients. Logistic regression and relative risk were calculated to measure the strength of the predictor and the relationship between delay and mortality respectively. RESULTS: We enrolled 440 (59.1%) critically ill children, their median age was 12 [IQR = 9-60] months and 63.9% were males. The median time to Emergency Department arrival was 3 days [IQR = 1-5] and more than half (56.6%) of critically ill children presented to Emergency Department in > 48 h whereby being an infant, self-referral and belonging to poor family were independent predictors of delay. Infants and those referred from other facilities had 2.4(95% CI 1.4-4.0) and 1.8(95% CI 1.1-2.8) times increased odds of presenting late to the Emergency Department respectively. The overall 30-day in-hospital mortality was 26.5% in which those who presented late were 1.3 more likely to die than those who presented early (RR = 1.3, CI: 0.9-1.9). Majority died > 24 h of Emergency Department arrival (P-value = 0.021). CONCLUSION: The risk of in-hospital mortality among children who presented to the ED later than 48 h after onset of illness was 1.3 times higher than for children who presented earlier than 48 h. It could be anywhere from 10% lower to 90% higher than the point estimate. However, the effect size was statistically not significant since the confidence interval included the null value Qualitative and time-motion studies are needed to evaluate the care pathway of critically ill pediatric patients to identify preventable delays in care.

Predictors and outcome of cardiac arrest in paediatric patients presenting to emergency medicine department of tertiary hospitals in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: The survival of children who suffer cardiac arrest is poor. This study aimed to determine the predictors and outcome of cardiac arrest in paediatric patients presenting to an emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Tanzania. METHODOLOGY: This was a prospective cohort study of paediatric patients > 1 month to ≤ 14 years presenting to Emergency Medicine Department of Muhimbili National Hospital (EMD) in Tanzania from September 2019 to January 2020 and triaged as Emergency and Priority. We enrolled consecutive patients during study periods where patients' demographic and clinical presentation, emergency interventions and outcome were recorded. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of cardiac arrest. RESULTS: We enrolled 481 patients, 294 (61.1%) were males, and the median age was 2 years [IQR 1-5 years]. Among studied patients, 38 (7.9%) developed cardiac arrest in the EMD, of whom 84.2% were ≤ 5 years. Referred patients were over-represented among those who had an arrest (84.2%). The majority 33 (86.8%) of those who developed cardiac arrest died. Compromised circulation on primary survey (OR 5.9 (95% CI 2.1-16.6)), bradycardia for age on arrival (OR 20.0 (CI 1.6-249.3)), hyperkalemia (OR 8.2 (95% CI 1.4-47.7)), elevated lactate levels > 2 mmol/L (OR 5.2 (95% CI 1.4-19.7)), oxygen therapy requirement (OR 5.9 (95% CI 1.3-26.1)) and intubation within the EMD (OR 4.8 (95% CI 1.3-17.6)) were independent predictors of cardiac arrest. CONCLUSION: Thirty-eight children developed cardiac arrest in the EMD, with a very high mortality. Those who arrested were more likely to present with signs of hypoxia, shock and acidosis, which suggest they were at later stage in their illness. Outcomes can be improved by strengthening the pre-referral care and providing timely critical management to prevent cardiac arrest.

Strengthening emergency care knowledge and skills in Uganda and Tanzania with the WHO-ICRC Basic Emergency Care Course.

BACKGROUND: There is a pressing need for emergency care (EC) training in low-resource settings. We assessed the feasibility and acceptability of training frontline healthcare providers in emergency care with the World Health Organization (WHO)-International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Basic Emergency Care (BEC) Course using a training-of-trainers (ToT) model with local providers. METHODS: Quasiexperimental pretest and post-test study of an educational intervention at four first-level district hospitals in Tanzania and Uganda conducted in March and April of 2017. A 2-day ToT course was held in both Tanzania and Uganda. These were immediately followed by a 5-day BEC Course, taught by the newly trained trainers, at two hospitals in each country. Both prior to and immediately following each training, participants took assessments on EC knowledge and rated their confidence level in using a variety of EC skills to treat patients. Qualitative feedback from participants was collected and summarised. RESULTS: Fifty-nine participants completed the four BEC Courses. All participants were current healthcare workers at the selected hospitals. An additional 10 participants completed a ToT course. EC knowledge scores were significantly higher for participants immediately following the training compared with their scores just prior to the training when assessed across all study sites (Z=6.23, p<0.001). Across all study sites, mean EC confidence ratings increased by 0.74 points on a 4-point Likert scale (95% CI 0.63 to 0.84, p<0.001). Main qualitative feedback included: positive reception of the sessions, especially hands-on skills; request for additional BEC trainings; request for obstetric topics; and need for more allotted training time. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of the WHO-ICRC BEC Course by locally trained providers was feasible, acceptable and well received at four sites in East Africa. Participation in the training course was associated with a significant increase in EC knowledge and confidence at all four study sites. The BEC is a low-cost intervention that can improve EC knowledge and skill confidence across provider cadres.

Aetiologies and outcomes of patients with abdominal pain presenting to an emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Tanzania: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Abdominal pain in adults represents a wide range of illnesses, often warranting immediate intervention. This study is to fill the gap in the knowledge about incidence, presentation, causes and mortality from abdominal pain in an established emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Tanzania. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of adult (age ≥ 18 years) patients presenting to the Emergency Medicine Department of Muhimbili National Hospital (EMD-MNH) in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania with non-traumatic abdominal pain from September 2017 to October 2017. A case report form was used to record data on demographics, clinical presentation, management, diagnosis, outcomes and patient follow-up. The primary outcome of mortality was summarized using descriptive statistics; secondary outcome was, risks for mortality. RESULTS: Among 3381 adult patients present during the study period, 288 (8.5%) presented with abdominal pain, and of these 199 (69%) patients were enrolled in our study. Median age was 47 years (IQR 35-60 years), 126 (63%) were female, and 118 (59%) were referred from another hospital. Most common final diagnoses were malignancies 71 (36%), intestinal obstruction 11 (6%) and peptic ulcer disease 9 (5%). Most common EMD interventions given were intravenous fluids 57 (21%), analgesia 49 (25%) and antibiotics 40 (20%). 160 (80%) were admitted of which 15 (8%) underwent surgery directly from EMD. 24-h and 7-day mortality were 4 (2%) and 7 (4%) respectively, while overall in hospital-mortality was 16 (8%). Among the risk factors for mortality were male sex Relative Risk (RR) 2.88 (p = 0.03), hypoglycemia (RR) 5.7 (p = 0.004), ICU admission (RR) 14 (p < 0.0001), receipt of IV fluids (RR) 3.2 (p = 0.0151) and need for surgery (RR) 6.6 (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Abdominal pain was associated with significant morbidity and mortality as evidenced by a very high admission rate, need for surgical intervention and a high in-hospital mortality rate. Future studies and quality improvement efforts should focus on identifying why such differences exist and how to reduce the mortality.

Trauma care and capture rate of variables of World Health Organisation data set for injury at regional hospitals in Tanzania: first steps to a national trauma registry.

BACKGROUND: In Tanzania, there is no national trauma registry. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a data set for injury that specifies the variables necessary for documenting the burden of injury and patient-related clinical processes. As a first step in developing and implementing a national Trauma Registry, we determined how well hospitals currently capture the variables that are specified in the WHO injury set. METHODS: This was a prospective, observational cross-sectional study of all trauma patients conducted in the Emergency Units of five regional referral hospitals in Tanzania from February 2018 to July 2018. Research assistants observed the provision of clinical care in the EU for all patients, and documented performed assessment, clinical interventions and final disposition. Research assistants used a purposefully designed case report form to audit the injury variable capture rate, and to review Ministry of Health (MoH) issued facility Register book recording the documentation of variables. We present descriptive statistics for hospital characteristics, patient volume, facility infrastructure, and capture rate of trauma variables. RESULTS: During the study period, 2891 (9.3%) patients presented with trauma-related complaints, 70.7% were male. Overall, the capture rate of all variables was 33.6%. Documentation was most complete for demographics 71.6%, while initial clinical condition, and details of injury were documented in 20.5 and 20.8% respectively. There was no documentation for the care prior to Emergency Unit arrival in all hospitals. 1430 (49.5%) of all trauma-related visits seen were documented in the facility Health Management Information System register submitted to the MoH. Among the cases reported in the register book, the date of EU care was correctly documented in 77% cases, age 43.6%, diagnosis 66.7%, and outcome in 38.9% cases. Among the observed procedures, initial clinical condition (28.7%), interventions at Emergency Unit (52.1%), investigations (49.0%), and disposition (62.9%) were documented in the clinical charts. CONCLUSIONS: In the regional hospitals of Tanzania, there is inadequate documentation of the minimum trauma variables specified in the WHO injury data set. Reasons for this are unclear, but will need to be addressed in order to improve documentation to inform a national injury registry.

Harnessing inter-disciplinary collaboration to improve emergency care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): results of research prioritisation setting exercise.

BACKGROUND: More than half of deaths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) result from conditions that could be treated with emergency care - an integral component of universal health coverage (UHC) - through timely access to lifesaving interventions. METHODS: The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to extend UHC to a further 1 billion people by 2023, yet evidence supporting improved emergency care coverage is lacking. In this article, we explore four phases of a research prioritisation setting (RPS) exercise conducted by researchers and stakeholders from South Africa, Egypt, Nepal, Jamaica, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, South Korea and Phillipines, USA and UK as a key step in gathering evidence required by policy makers and practitioners for the strengthening of emergency care systems in limited-resource settings. RESULTS: The RPS proposed seven priority research questions addressing: identification of context-relevant emergency care indicators, barriers to effective emergency care; accuracy and impact of triage tools; potential quality improvement via registries; characteristics of people seeking emergency care; best practices for staff training and retention; and cost effectiveness of critical care - all within LMICs. CONCLUSIONS: Convened by WHO and facilitated by the University of Sheffield, the Global Emergency Care Research Network project (GEM-CARN) brought together a coalition of 16 countries to identify research priorities for strengthening emergency care in LMICs. Our article further assesses the quality of the RPS exercise and reviews the current evidence supporting the identified priorities.

Profile and outcome of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding presenting to urban emergency departments of tertiary hospitals in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is a common emergency department (ED) presentation with high morbidity and mortality. There is a paucity of data on the profile and outcome of patients who present with UGIB to EDs, especially within limited resource settings where emergency medicine is a new specialty. We aim to describe the patient profile, clinical severity and outcomes of the patients who present with UGIB to the ED of tertiary referral hospitals in Tanzania. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of consecutive adult (≥18 years) patients presenting to the EDs of Muhimbili National Hospital (ED-MNH) and MUHAS Academic Medical Centre (ED-MAMC), in Tanzania with non-traumatic upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) from July 2018 to December 2018. Patient demographic data, clinical presentation, and ED and hospital management provided were recorded. We used the clinical Rockall score to assess disease severity. The primary outcome of 7- day mortality was summarized using descriptive statistics. Regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of mortality. RESULTS: During the study period, 123 patients presented to one of the two EDs with an UGIB. The median age was 42 years (Interquartile range (IQR) 32-64 years), and 87 (70.7%) were male. Hematemesis with melena was the most frequently encountered ED complaint 39 (31.7%). Within 7 days, 23 (18.7%) patients died and one-third 8 (34.8%) of these died within 24 h. There were no ED deaths. About 65.1% of the patients had severe anemia but only 60 (48.8%) received blood transfusion in the ED. Amongst those with history of (h/o) esophageal varices 7(41.2%) did not receive octreotide. Upper GI endoscopy, was performed on 46 (37.4%) patients, of whom only 8 (17.4%) received endoscopy within 24 h (early UGI endoscopy). All patients who received early UGI endoscopy had a low or moderate clinical Rockall score i.e. < 3 and 3-4. No patient with scores of > 4 received early UGI endoscopy. Age > 40 years was a significant independent predictor of mortality (OR = 7.00 (95% CI 1.7-29.2). Having a high clinical Rockall score of ≥ 4 was a significant independent predictor of mortality (OR = 6.4 (95% CI 1.8-22.8). CONCLUSIONS: In this urban ED in Sub-Saharan Africa, UGIB carried a high mortality rate. Age > 40 years and clinical Rockall score ≥ 4 were independent predictors of higher mortality. Future studies should focus on evaluating how to improve access to UGI endoscopy so as to improve outcomes.