Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26747281›Full record

ArticleMalaria journal2016

Feasibility and acceptability of injectable artesunate for the treatment of severe malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Henry M T Ntuku, Gianfrancesco Ferrari, Christian Burri, Antoinette K Tshefu, Didier M Kalemwa, Christian Lengeler

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Malaria journal, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Observational
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Henry M T NtukuKinshasa School of Public Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. henry.ntuku@unibas.ch.
Gianfrancesco FerrariSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. Giovanfrancesco.Ferrari@unibas.ch.
Christian BurriSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. Christian.Burri@unibas.ch.
Antoinette K TshefuKinshasa School of Public Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. antotshe@yahoo.com.
Didier M KalemwaSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. Didier.Kalemwa@swisstph.org.
Christian LengelerSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. Christian.Lengeler@unibas.ch.
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute · CHMinistry of Public Health · CD

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) changed its national policy for the treatment of severe malaria in both children and adults in 2012 from intravenous quinine to injectable artesunate. The country is now planning to deploy nationwide injectable artesunate as the preferred treatment for the management of severe malaria. To support this process, the feasibility and acceptability of the use of injectable artesunate in the context of the DRC was assessed, from the perspective of both health care providers and patients/caretakers.

methodsQuestionnaires and observations were used to collect information from health care providers and patients/caretakers in eight health facilities in the Province of Kinshasa and in the Province of Bas-Congo.

resultsA total of 31 health care providers and 134 patients/care takers were interviewed. Seventy five percent (75%) of health care providers found it less difficult to prepare injectable artesunate compared to quinine. None of them encountered problems during preparation and administration of injectable artesunate. The large majority of care providers (93%) and patients/caretakers (93%) answered that injectable artesunate took less time than quinine to cure the symptoms of the patients. 26 (84%) health care providers reported that the personnel workload had diminished with the use of injectable artesunate. 7 (22.6%) health workers reported adverse drug reactions, of which a decrease in the haemoglobin rate was the most common (71.4%). All care providers and the vast majority of patients/caretakers (96%, N = 128) were either satisfied or very satisfied with injectable artesunate.

conclusionsThese findings show that the use of injectable artesunate for the treatment of severe malaria is feasible and acceptable in the context of DRC, with appropriate training of care providers. Both care providers and patients/caretakers perceived injectable artesunate to be effective and safe, thus promoting acceptability.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAntimalarialsArtemisininsArtesunateChildDemocratic Republic of the CongoFemaleHumansInjections, IntravenousMalariaMaleTreatment OutcomeYoung AdultAntimalarialsArtemisininsArtesunate

Identifiers

PMID26747281
PMCPMC4706670
OpenAlexW2229986960

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.