ArticleMalaria journal2013
"Even if the test result is negative, they should be able to tell us what is wrong with us": a qualitative study of patient expectations of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria.
Article in Malaria journal, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
What it found
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed.
- Universal versus conditional day 3 follow-up for children with non-severe unclassified fever at the community level in Ethiopia: A cluster-randomised non-inferiority trial.PLoS medicine · 2018Trial
- Malaria policies versus practices, a reality check from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.BMC public health · 2015Trial
- The impact of providing rapid diagnostic malaria tests on fever management in the private retail sector in Ghana: a cluster randomized trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2015Trial
- The acceptability of intermittent screening and treatment versus intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy: results from a qualitative study in Northern Ghana.Malaria journal · 2014Trial
- Enhancing national cholera surveillance using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs): A mixed methods evaluation.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Assessing the acceptability of technological health innovations in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review and a best fit framework synthesis.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Trends in fever case management for febrile inpatients in a low malaria incidence setting of Tanzania.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2021Article
- The potential of diagnostic point-of-care tests (POCTs) for infectious and zoonotic animal diseases in developing countries: Technical, regulatory and sociocultural considerations.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2021Review
- Malaria Test, Treat and Track policy implementation in Angola: a retrospective study to assess the progress achieved after 4 years of programme implementation.Malaria journal · 2020Article
- Modelling the cost-effectiveness of introducing subsidised malaria rapid diagnostic tests in the private retail sector in sub-Saharan Africa.BMJ global health · 2020Article
- Understanding the Role of the Diagnostic 'Reflex' in the Elimination of Human African Trypanosomiasis.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2020Article
- Management of uncomplicated malaria in private health facilities in North-West Ethiopia: a clinical audit of current practices.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Examination of malaria service utilization and service provision: an analysis of DHS and SPA data from Malawi, Senegal, and Tanzania.Malaria journal · 2019Article
- Article
- Management and Follow-up Practices of Children with Unclassified Fever in Rural Ethiopia: Experiences of Health Extension Workers and Caregivers.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2018Article
- A Comparison of Patients' Local Conceptions of Illness and Medicines in the Context of C-Reactive Protein Biomarker Testing in Chiang Rai and Yangon.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2018Article
- Article
- Household beliefs about malaria testing and treatment in Western Kenya: the role of health worker adherence to malaria test results.Malaria journal · 2017Article
- Assessing the impact of health research on health policies: a study of the Dodowa Health Research Centre, Ghana.BMC health services research · 2017Article
- Impact of introduction of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria on antibiotic prescribing: analysis of observational and randomised studies in public and private healthcare settings.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe debate on rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria has begun to shift from whether RDTs should be used, to how and under what circumstances their use can be optimized. This has increased the need for a better understanding of the complexities surrounding the role of RDTs in appropriate treatment of fever. Studies have focused on clinician practices, but few have sought to understand patient perspectives, beyond notions of acceptability.
methodsThis qualitative study aimed to explore patient and caregiver perceptions and experiences of RDTs following a trial to assess the introduction of the tests into routine clinical care at four health facilities in one district in Ghana. Six focus group discussions and one in-depth interview were carried out with those who had received an RDT with a negative test result.
resultsPatients had high expectations of RDTs. They welcomed the tests as aiding clinical diagnoses and as tools that could communicate their problem better than they could, verbally. However, respondents also believed the tests could identify any cause of illness, beyond malaria. Experiences of patients suggested that RDTs were adopted into an existing system where patients are both physically and intellectually removed from diagnostic processes and where clinicians retain authority that supersedes tests and their results. In this situation, patients did not feel able to articulate a demand for test-driven diagnosis.
conclusionsImprovements in communication between the health worker and patient, particularly to explain the capabilities of the test and management of RDT negative cases, may both manage patient expectations and promote patient demand for test-driven diagnoses.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.