Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29769128›Full record

ArticleMalaria journal2018

The impact of the scale-up of malaria rapid diagnostic tests on the routine clinical diagnosis procedures for febrile illness: a series of repeated cross-sectional studies in Papua New Guinea.

Justin Pulford, Serah Kurumop, Ivo Mueller, Peter M Siba, Manuel W Hetzel

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Malaria journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 37% 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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. 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

5 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.

Justin PulfordPapua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea. justin.pulford@lstmed.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4756-8480
Serah KurumopPapua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea.
Ivo MuellerWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia.
Peter M SibaPapua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea.
Manuel W HetzelSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research · PGLiverpool School of Tropical Medicine · GBSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute · CHWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis paper examines the impact of the scale-up of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) on routine clinical diagnosis procedures for febrile illness in primary healthcare settings in Papua New Guinea.

methodsRepeat, cross-sectional surveys in randomly selected primary healthcare services were conducted. Surveys included passive observation of consecutive febrile case management cases and were completed immediately prior to RDT scale-up (2011) and at 12- (2012) and 60-months (2016) post scale-up. The frequency with which specified diagnostic questions and procedures were observed to occur, with corresponding 95% CIs, was calculated for febrile patients prescribed anti-malarials pre- and post-RDT scale-up and between febrile patients who tested either negative or positive for malaria infection by RDT (post scale-up only).

resultsA total of 1809 observations from 120 health facilities were completed across the three survey periods of which 915 (51%) were prescribed an anti-malarial. The mean number of diagnostic questions and procedures asked or performed, leading to anti-malarial prescription, remained consistent pre- and post-RDT scale-up (range 7.4-7.7). However, alterations in diagnostic content were evident with the RDT replacing body temperature as the primary diagnostic procedure performed (observed in 5.3 and 84.4% of cases, respectively, in 2011 vs. 77.9 and 58.2% of cases in 2016). Verbal questioning, especially experience of fever, cough and duration of symptoms, remained the most common feature of a diagnostic examination leading to anti-malarial prescription irrespective of RDT use (observed in 96.1, 86.8 and 84.8% of cases, respectively, in 2011 vs. 97.5, 76.6 and 85.7% of cases in 2016). Diagnostic content did not vary substantially by RDT result.

conclusionsRapid diagnostic tests scale-up has led to a reduction in body temperature measurement. Investigations are very limited when malaria infection is ruled out as a cause of febrile illness by RDT.

Indexed as

Case ManagementCross-Sectional StudiesDiagnostic Tests, RoutineFeverMalariaPapua New GuineaDiagnosisFebrile illnessMalariaPNGRDT

Identifiers

PMID29769128
PMCPMC5956836
OpenAlexW2805674407

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.