Self-reported involvement in road traffic crashes in Kenya: A cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample

Background
Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are a global public health burden whose resulting morbidity and mortality disproportionately impact low- and middle-income countries with stressed health systems. There is a paucity of published studies that evaluate the sociodemographic distribution of RTCs using nationally representative samples from the African region.

Aim
To examine population-wide associations between sociodemographic factors and involvement in RTCs in Kenya.

Methods
Data were obtained from the 2014 Kenyan Demographic Health Survey, representing all 47 counties in Kenya, from May to October of 2014. We estimated the prevalence of RTCs and utilized logistic regression for bivariate and multivariable analyses to determine the sociodemographic factors associated with RTCs. Study variables included age, place of residence, household wealth index, educational attainment, and history of alcohol consumption. We computed odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results
A higher prevalence was reported among men (8.76%) versus women (3.22%). The risk factors among men included being 20−34 years of age, living in a rural area (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.09, 1.74), drinking alcohol (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.11, 1.59), and having not higher than a primary (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.19, 3.03) or secondary (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.04, 2.71) education. The strongest risk factors for women included the being aged 45−49 (OR 2.30, 95% CI 1.44, 3.67) and 20−24 years (OR 1.81, 95% 1.17, 2.79) as well as being in the fourth wealth quintile (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.15, 2.91).

Conclusion
Men and the most economically productive age groups were more likely to report being involved in RTCs. Strategies to reduce the occurrences of RTCs should prioritize the most vulnerable sociodemographic groups.

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures for Acetabular Fractures Treated Operatively without a C-Arm in Ethiopia

Background:
There is little evidence describing the open treatment of displaced acetabular fractures in low-resource environments. We endeavored to determine the results of the operative management of acetabular fractures without intraoperative C-arm use in a developing nation, through the assessment of patient-reported outcome measures.

Methods:
This was a prospective, single-surgeon, consecutive case series conducted in a tertiary referral hospital in Ethiopia, a high-population, low-income country. The primary author performed fixation without the use of a C-arm in 108 patients from among a total of 202 patients presenting with acetabular fracture. The modified Harris hip score (mHHS) and Short-Form Health Survey (SF)-36 at a minimum of 2 years postoperatively were used to assess the outcome.

Results:
Of the 108 patients potentially available for analysis, 92 (85%) were available for 2-year follow-up (mean age of 35 years; range, 15 to 70 years). The mean duration from injury to surgery was 16 days (range, 1 to 204 days). Seventy-three (78.5%; n = 93) of the patients had associated fracture patterns. The most common fractures were associated both-column type (22%) and transverse-plus-posterior-wall type (22%). The mean mHHS was 91; 88% of the patients had a score of ≥80, and 12% had a score of ≤79. SF-36 scores were in alignment with the mHHS. The majority (approximately 90%) of our cohort returned to work. We did not find a significant difference in the mean mHHS between patients with or without anatomic reduction (p = 0.31). However, 2-year radiographic outcomes were strongly associated with the mean mHHS (p < 0.001). Predictors of a lower mHHS included older age, cartilage damage, and lack of secondary congruence. Conclusions: Good functional outcomes were achieved at 2 years among patients with acetabular fractures surgically treated without the use of a C-arm in a limited-resource setting. Surgical congruence of the femoral head under the acetabular roof, rather than the absolute residual gap, seems essential in determining clinical outcomes. This information can help in planning increased access to care for individuals who experience traumatic injuries in low- and middle-income countries.

International pediatric surgery partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping literature review

Background
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces a critical shortage of pediatric surgical providers. International partnerships can play an important role in pediatric surgical capacity building but must be ethical and sustainable.

Objective
The purpose of this study is to perform a scoping literature review of international pediatric surgery partnerships in SSA from 2009 to 2019. We aim to categorize and critically assess past partnerships to aid in future capacity-building efforts.

Methods
We performed a scoping literature review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. We searched the PubMed and Embase databases for articles published from 2009 to 2019 using 24 keywords. Articles were selected according to inclusion criteria and assessed by two readers. Descriptive analyses of the data collected were conducted in Excel.

Results
A total of 2376 articles were identified. After duplicates were removed, 405 articles were screened. In total, 83 articles were assessed for eligibility, and 62 were included in the review. The most common partnership category was short-term surgical trip (28 articles, 45%). A total of 35 articles (56%) included education of host country providers as part of the partnership. Only 45% of partnerships included follow-up care, and 50% included postoperative outcomes when applicable.

Conclusions
To increase sustainability, more partnerships must include education of local health-care providers, and short-term surgical trips must be integrated into long-term partnerships. More partnerships need to report postoperative outcomes and ensure follow-up care. Educating peri-operative providers, training general surgeons in common pediatric procedures, and increasing telehealth use are other goals for future partnerships.

Hospitalized for poverty: orthopaedic discharge delays due to financial hardship in a tertiary hospital in Northern Tanzania

Background
Musculoskeletal injury contributes significantly to the burden of disease in Tanzania and other LMICs. For hospitals to cope financially with this burden, they often mandate that patients pay their entire hospital bill before leaving the hospital. This creates a phenomenon of patients who remain hospitalized solely due to financial hardship. This study aims to characterize the impact of this policy on patients and hospital systems in resource-limited settings.

Methods
A mixed-methods study using retrospective medical record review and semi-structured interviews was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Moshi, Tanzania. Information regarding patient demographics, injury type, days spent in the ward after medical clearance for discharge, and hospital invoices were collected and analyzed for orthopaedic patients treated from November 2016 to June 2017.

Results
346 of the 867 orthopaedic patients (39.9%) treated during this time period were found to have spent additional days in the hospital due to their inability to pay their hospital bill. Of these patients, 72 patient charts were analyzed. These 72 patients spent an average of 9 additional days in the hospital due to financial hardship (range: 1–64 days; interquartile range: 2–10.5 days). They spent an average of 112,958 Tanzanian Shillings (TSH) to pay for services received following medical clearance for discharge, representing 12.3% of the average total bill (916,840 TSH). 646 hospital bed-days were spent on these 72 patients when they no longer clinically required hospitalization. 7 (9.7%) patients eloped from the hospital without paying and 24 (33.3%) received financial assistance from the hospital’s social welfare office.

Conclusions
Many patients do not have the financial capacity to pay hospital fees prior to discharge. This reality has added significantly to these patients’ overall financial hardship and has taken hundreds of bed-days from other critically ill patients. This single-institution, cross-sectional study provides a deeper understanding of this phenomenon and highlights the need for changes in the healthcare payment structure in Tanzania and other comparable settings.

Relapse-free survival in Sudanese women with non-metastatic breast cancer

Background
Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and a major cause of cancer mortality in Sudan. However, there is lack of data related to BC relapse. Therefore, this study was undertaken to estimate the 5-year relapse free survival (RFS) rate and factors related to BC relapse in Sudanese women with non-metastatic BC.

Methods
Data of BC women with BC diagnosed and treated at the National Cancer Institute-University of Gezira during 2012 were retrieved from medical records. The cases were followed-up through hospital records and telephone contact. Survival functions were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method and compared by log-rank test. The prognostic factors were tested using univariate and multivariable Cox regression analyses.

Results
We included 168 women with median age of 45 years (range, 22–83 years). 53.5%of women had stage III at time of diagnosis, whereas 4.2% and 42.3% of women presented with stage I and stage II, respectively. At the end of 5 years follow-up, with median follow-up period of 64 months, 94 (56.0%) women were alive in remission, 11 (6.5%) were alive with BC relapse, 49 (29.2%) were dead, and survival status was unknown in 14 (8.3%) women. Most of the occurred relapses were distant relapses. The 5-year RFS was 59%. The independent predictors of relapse were: larger primary tumor size (HR:1.84, 95% CI: 1.54-5.48, p=0.018); involved axillary lymph nodes with tumour (HR: 2.91, 95% CI: 1.53–7.91, p=0.001); not receiving adjuvant radiotherapy (HR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.22–3.95, p=0.009); and not receiving hormone therapy (HR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.01–2.76, p= 0.046).

Conclusion
We found a high risk of BC relapse in our resource-constrained settings. Advanced stages, not receiving adjuvant radiotherapy, and not receiving adjuvant hormone therapy were independent predictors associated with worse 5-year RFS. Therefore, enhancing the early diagnosis of BC and improving timely access to appropriate treatments represent key approaches to achieving better treatment outcomes.

Telesurgery’s potential role in improving surgical access in Africa

An estimated five billion people worldwide lack access to surgical care, while LMICs including African nations require an additional 143 million life-saving surgical procedures each year.African hospitals are under-resourced and understaffed, causing global attention to be focused on improving surgical access in the continent. The African continent saw its first telesurgery application when the United States Army Special Operations Forces in Somalia used augmented reality to stabilize lifethreatening injuries.Various studies have been conducted since the first telesurgery implementation in 2001 to further optimize its application.In context of a relative shortage of healthcare resources and personnel telesurgery can considerably improve quality and access to surgical services in Africa.telesurgery can provide remote African regions with access to knowledge and tools that were previously unavailable, driving innovative research and professional growth of surgeons in the region.At the same time, telesurgery allows less trained surgeons in remote areas with lower social determinants of health, such as access, to achieve better health outcomes. However, lack of stable internet access, expensive equipment costs combined with low expenditure on healthcare limits expansive utilization of telesurgery in Africa. Regional and international policies aimed at overcoming these obstacles can improve access, optimize surgical care and thereby reduce disease burden associated with surgical conditions in Africa.

Implementing surgical mentorship in a resource-constrained context: a mixed methods assessment of the experiences of mentees, mentors, and leaders, and lessons learned

Background
A well-qualified workforce is critical to effective functioning of health systems and populations; however, skill gaps present a challenge in low-resource settings. While an emerging body of evidence suggests that mentorship can improve quality, access, and systems in African health settings by building the capacity of health providers, less is known about its implementation in surgery. We studied a novel surgical mentorship intervention as part of a safe surgery intervention (Safe Surgery 2020) in five rural Ethiopian facilities to understand factors affecting implementation of surgical mentorship in resource–constrained settings.

Methods
We designed a convergent mixed-methods study to understand the experiences of mentees, mentors, hospital leaders, and external stakeholders with the mentorship intervention. Quantitative data was collected through a survey (n = 25) and qualitative data through in-depth interviews (n = 26) in 2018 to gather information on (1) intervention characteristics including areas of mentorship, mentee-mentor relationships, and mentor characteristics, (2) organizational context including facilitators and barriers to implementation, (3) perceived impact, and (4) respondent characteristics. We analyzed the quantitative and qualitative data using frequency analysis and the constant comparison method, respectively; we integrated findings to identify themes.

Results
All mentees (100%) experienced the intervention as positive. Participants perceived impact as: safer and more frequent surgical procedures, collegial bonds between mentees and mentors, empowerment among mentees, and a culture of continuous learning. Over 70% of all mentees reported their confidence and job satisfaction increased. Supportive intervention characteristics included a systems focus, psychologically safe mentee-mentor relationships, and mentor characteristics including generosity with time and knowledge, understanding of local context, and interpersonal skills. Supportive organizational context included a receptive implementation climate. Intervention challenges included insufficient clinical training, inadequate mentor support, and inadequate dose. Organizational context challenges included resource constraints and a lack of common understanding of the intervention.

Conclusion
We offer lessons for intervention designers, policy makers, and practitioners about optimizing surgical mentorship interventions in resource-constrained settings. We attribute the intervention’s success to its holistic approach, a receptive climate, and effective mentee-mentor relationships. These qualities, along with policy support and adapting the intervention through user feedback are important for successful implementation.

Virtual reality technology in linked orthopaedic training in Ethiopia

Introduction
We describe the feasibility of delivering a live orthopaedic surgical teaching session with virtual reality (VR) technology simultaneously for trainee surgeons in Ethiopia and the UK.

Methods
Forty-three delegates from the Severn Deanery in the UK (n=30) and Bahir Dar in Ethiopia (n=13) attended a live training session in February 2021. During the session, participants watched a surgical operation (recorded earlier that week with a 360° VR camera) alongside live commentary. A qualitative questionnaire was distributed to gauge feasibility, connectivity and educational value of the session as well as its VR component.

Results
The majority of delegates from both the UK and Ethiopia felt that the use of VR technology to aid surgical training is feasible, that it is useful for learning surgical approaches, that it aids surgical performance and that it is superior to conventional resources. Bahir Dar residents strongly agreed that VR simulation videos would allow trainees to supplement reduced learning opportunities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and help to counteract their reduced operating experience. For Bahir Dar trainees, a lack of a stable internet connection for large VR files was the predominant issue.

Conclusions
This study demonstrates that there are infrastructure challenges in low and middle income countries (LMICs) in terms of the reliable delivery of VR teaching in orthopaedics at the current time. Despite this, our findings better inform the potential role of VR technology in surgical education, and shed light on the possibility for it to feed into and enrich surgical training in both LMICs and high income countries.

Colorectal cancer in northern Tanzania: A retrospective, descriptive study of patients with histologically confirmed diagnoses at a tertiary referral hospital

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide with increasing incidence and mortality in low- and middle-income countries. Data from Tanzania shows a six-fold increase in incidence in the
past decade with increased morbidity and mortality rates. This study was conducted to characterize the clinicopathological pattern of colorectal cancer as well as to assess the challenges in treatment.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of histologically confirmed colorectal cancer cases at Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre between January 2015 and December 2020 was done. Data were extracted from patients’ clinical records and analysed using SPSS version 25.
Results: Total of 57 patients were included in this study. Males outnumbered females by ratio of 1.2:1. The median age of presentation was 57years with most patients being 61-70years of age. Most of our patients were urban residents (63.2%), 52.6% had health insurance and 35.1% had other comorbid conditions. Most of our patients (68.4%) presented as elective cases, and most (71.5%) had advanced disease (stage 3 and 4). The most common presenting symptoms were rectal bleeding (42%) and abdominal pain (23.3%). The mean duration from symptom onset to presentation was 14.6months. The rectum was the most common involved site (47.4%). Adenocarcinoma was the most common tumor histology (94.7%), majority being moderately differentiated (42.1%). 59.6% underwent surgery, and 25.9% received adjunctive therapy. The mean follow-up time of patients after surgical intervention was low at 5.8months as majority of the patients were lost to follow-up.
Conclusions: There is poor uptake of treatment options – surgery and adjunctive therapy – necessitating further appraisal for related factors. Also, advanced disease presentation and poor patient follow-up highlights underlying system challenges.

Quality of emergency obstetric and newborn care services in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Background
Globally, nearly 295,000 women die every year during and following pregnancy and childbirth. Emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) can avert 75% of maternal mortality if all mothers get quality healthcare. Improving maternal health needs identification and addressing of barriers that limit access to quality maternal health services. Hence, this study aimed to assess the quality of EmONC service and its predictors in Wolaita Zone, southern Ethiopia.

Methodology
A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 14 health facilities. A facility audit was conducted on 14 health facilities, and 423 women were randomly selected to participate in observation of care and exit interview. The Open Data Kit (ODK) platform and Stata version 17 were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Frequencies and summary statistics were used to describe the study population. Simple and multiple linear regressions were done to identify candidate and predictor variables of service quality. Coefficients with 95% confidence intervals were used to declare the significance and strength of association. Input, process, and output quality indices were created by calculating the means of standard items available or actions performed by each category and were used to describe the quality of EmONC.

Result
The mean input, process, and output EmONC services qualities were 74.2, 69.4, and 79.6%, respectively. Of the study participants, 59.2% received below 75% of the standard clinical actions (observed quality) of EmONC services. Women’s educational status (B = 5.35, 95% C.I: 0.56, 10.14), and (B = 8.38, 95% C.I: 2.92, 13.85), age (B = 3.86, 95% C.I: 0.39, 7.33), duration of stay at the facility (B = 3.58, 95% C.I: 2.66, 4.9), number of patients in the delivery room (B = − 4.14, 95% C.I: − 6.14, − 2.13), and care provider’s experience (B = 1.26, 95% C.I: 0.83, 1.69) were independent predictors of observed service quality.

Conclusion
The EmONC services quality was suboptimal in Wolaita Zone. Every three-in-five women received less than three-fourths of the standard clinical actions. The health system, care providers, and other stakeholders should emphasize improving the quality of care by availing medical infrastructure, adhering to standard procedures, enhancing human resources for health, and providing standard care regardless of women’s characteristics.