Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33238918›Full record

ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2020

Geographical access to point-of-care testing for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy as an integral part of maternal healthcare in Ghana.

Desmond Kuupiel, Kwame Manu Adu, Vitalis Bawontuo, Philip T N Tabong, Duncan A Adogboba, Tivani P Mashamba-Thompson

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing 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

10 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.

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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 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Desmond KuupielDepartment of Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. desmondkuupiel98@hotmail.com.
Kwame Manu AduDepartment of Geography, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
Vitalis BawontuoResearch for Sustainable Development Consult, Sunyani, Ghana.
Philip T N TabongResearch for Sustainable Development Consult, Sunyani, Ghana.
Duncan A AdogbobaRegional Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Upper East Region, Bolgatanga, Ghana.
Tivani P Mashamba-ThompsonDepartment of Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
University of Ghana · GHUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal · ZACatholic University College of Ghana · GHGhana Health Service · GH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are associated with high maternal mortality in Ghana and globally. Evidence shows that there is poor availability of pregnancy-related point-of-care (POC) tests in Ghana's primary healthcare (PHC) clinics (health centre or community-based health planning services facilities). Therefore, we employed geographic information systems to estimate the geographical distribution of and physical accessibility to HDP POC testing services in the Upper East Region (UER), Ghana.

methodsWe collected data on 100 out of 365 PHC clinics, public hospitals providing HDP testing, PHC clinic type, ownership, and availability of urine dipsticks and blood pressure (BP) devices. We also obtained the geo-located data of the PHC clinics and hospitals using the global positioning system. We employed ArcGIS 10.4 to measure the distance and travel time from the location of each PHC clinic without HDP POC testing services as well as from all locations of each district to the nearest hospital/clinic where the service is available. The travel time was estimated using an assumed motorised tricycle speed of 20 km/hour. We further calculated the spatial distribution of the hospitals/clinics providing HDP POC testing services using the spatial autocorrelation tool in ArcMap, and Stata version 14 for descriptive statistical analysis.

resultsOf the 100 participating PHC clinics, POC testing for HDP was available in 19% (14% health centres and 5% community-based health planning services compounds) in addition to the 10 hospitals use as referral points for the service. The findings indicated that the spatial pattern of the distribution of the health facilities providing HDP POC testing was random (z-score = -0.61; p = 0.54). About 17% of the PHC clinics without HDP POC testing service were located > 10 km to the nearest facility offering the service. The mean distance and travel time from PHC clinics without HDP POC testing to a health facility providing the service were 11.4 ± 9.9 km and 31.1 ± 29.2 min respectively. The results suggest that if every 19% of the 365 PHC clinics are offering HDP POC testing in addition to these 10 hospitals identified, then the estimated coverage (health facility-to-women in fertility age ratio) in the UER is 1: 3,869.

conclusionsThere is poor physical accessibility to HDP POC testing services from PHC clinics without HDP POC testing in the UER. Mothers who obtain maternal healthcare in about 17% of the PHC clinics travel long distances (> 10 km) to access the service when needed. Hence, there is a need to improve the availability of HDP POC diagnostic tests in Ghana's rural clinics.

Indexed as

FemaleGeographic Information SystemsGeographyGhanaHealth Services AccessibilityHumansHypertension, Pregnancy-InducedMaternal Health ServicesPoint-of-Care TestingPregnancyPrimary Health CareRural PopulationSpatial AnalysisTravelAccessibilityAntenatal careGhanaHypertensive disorders of pregnancyPoint-of-care testingPrimary healthcare clinicsScreeningUpper East Region

Identifiers

PMID33238918
PMCPMC7690122
OpenAlexW3109296208

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.