ArticleBMJ open2018
What resources are used in emergency departments in rural sub-Saharan Africa? A retrospective analysis of patient care in a district-level hospital in Uganda.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Development of an Emergency Department Safety Checklist through a global consensus process.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Guideline
- Critical care delivery across health care systems in low-income and low-middle-income country settings: A systematic review.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- Insulin therapy among diabetic patients in rural communities of Sub-Saharan Africa: a perspective review.Therapeutic advances in endocrinology and metabolism · 2024Review
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- A Short-Term Medical Mission in Rural Nepal: Chief Complaints, Medications Dispensed, and Unmet Health Needs.Cureus · 2021Article
- Derivation of a Contextually-Appropriate COVID-19 Mortality Scale for Low-Resource Settings.Annals of global health · 2021Article
- The costs of delivering emergency care at regional referral hospitals in Uganda: a micro-costing study.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- African Federation for Emergency Medicine resources for managing COVID-19 in low resourced settings.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2020Article
- The burden of hypertension in the emergency department and linkage to care: A prospective cohort study in Tanzania.PloS one · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo determine the most commonly used resources (provider procedural skills, medications, laboratory studies and imaging) needed to care for patients.
settingA single emergency department (ED) of a district-level hospital in rural Uganda.
participants26 710 patient visits.
resultsProcedures were performed for 65.6% of patients, predominantly intravenous cannulation, wound care, bladder catheterisation and orthopaedic procedures. Medications were administered to 87.6% of patients, most often pain medications, antibiotics, intravenous fluids, antimalarials, nutritional supplements and vaccinations. Laboratory testing was used for 85% of patients, predominantly malaria smears, rapid glucose testing, HIV assays, blood counts, urinalyses and blood type. Radiology testing was performed for 17.3% of patients, including X-rays, point-of-care ultrasound and formal ultrasound.
conclusionThis study describes the skills and resources needed to care for a large prospective cohort of patients seen in a district hospital ED in rural sub-Saharan Africa. It demonstrates that the vast majority of patients were treated with a small formulary of critical medications and limited access to laboratories and imaging, but providers require a broad set of decision-making and procedural skills.
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Registered trials
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