ArticleInternational journal of surgery (London, England)2015
Quality of referrals for elective surgery at a tertiary care hospital in a developing country: an opportunity for improving timely access to and cost-effectiveness of surgical care.
Article in International journal of surgery (London, England), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06075108 (P-KIDs CARE), which is not on this map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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.
P-KIDs CARE: An Intervention to Address Health Systems Delays to Care for Injured Children in Tanzania
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effectiveness of different patient referral systems to shorten waiting times for elective surgeries: systematic review.BMC health services research · 2021Pooled it
- Structures, processes and outcomes between first referral and referral hospitals in low-income and middle-income countries: a secondary preplanned analysis of the FALCON and ChEETAh randomised trials.BMJ global health · 2024Trial
- Experiences of injured patients referred to higher levels of care after initial assessment and management at non-tertiary hospitals in Ghana.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2024Article
- Rethinking referral systems in rural chiapas: A mixed methods study.Dialogues in health · 2023Article
- Mortality by Admission Diagnosis in Children 1-60 Months of Age Admitted to a Tertiary Care Government Hospital in Malawi.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Article
- The impact of limited access to electronic medical records on neurosurgical care within the CARICOM countries: A survey and scoping review.Brain & spine · 2023Article
- The state of surgery, obstetrics, trauma, and anaesthesia care in Ghana: a narrative review.Global health action · 2022Review
- Quality Improvement to Address Surgical Burden of Disease at a Large Tertiary Public Hospital in Peru.World journal of surgery · 2021Article
- Surgical ambulance referrals in sub-Saharan Africa - financial costs and coping strategies at district hospitals in Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Self-referral and associated factors among patients attending adult outpatient departments in Debre tabor general hospital, North West Ethiopia.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Injured and broke: The impacts of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on service delivery and catastrophic health expenditure among seriously injured children.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2021Article
- Evaluation of a Managed Surgical Consultation Network in Malawi.World journal of surgery · 2021Article
- Population-based rates of hernia surgery in Ghana.Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery · 2020Article
- Benchmarking Global Trauma Care: Defining the Unmet Need for Trauma Surgery in Ghana.The Journal of surgical research · 2020Article
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- Enumeration of Operations Performed for Elderly Patients in Ghana: An Opportunity to Improve Global Surgery Benchmarking.World journal of surgery · 2019Article
- Surgical referral systems in low- and middle-income countries: A review of the evidence.PloS one · 2019Review
- Exploring the Relationship Between Surgical Capacity and Output in Ghana: Current Capacity Assessments May Not Tell the Whole Story.World journal of surgery · 2018Article
- Improving Benchmarks for Global Surgery: Nationwide Enumeration of Operations Performed in Ghana.Annals of surgery · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionA disproportionate number of surgeries in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are performed in tertiary facilities. The referral process may be an under-recognized barrier to timely and cost-effective surgical care. This study aimed to assess the quality of referrals for surgery to a tertiary hospital in Ghana and identify ways to improve access to timely care.
methodsAll elective surgical referrals to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for two consecutive months were assessed. Seven essential items in a referral were recorded as present or absent. The proportion of missing information was described and evaluated between facility, referring clinician type and whether or not a structured form was used.
resultsOf the 643 referrals assessed, none recorded all essential items. The median number of missing items was 4 (range 1-7). Clinicians that did not use a form missed 5 or more essential items 50% of the time, compared with 8% when a structured form was used (p = 0.001). However, even with the use of a structured form, 1 or 2 items were not recorded for 10% of referrals and up to 3 items for 45% of referrals.
conclusionStructured forms reduce missing essential information on referrals for surgery. However, proposing that a structured form be used is not enough to ensure consistent communication of essential items. Referred patients may benefit from referrer feedback mechanisms or electronic referral systems. Though often not considered among interventions to improve surgical capacity in LMICs, referral process improvements may improve access to timely surgical care.
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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.