ArticleBMC health services research2022
Access to surgical care in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional retrospective data review.
Article in BMC health services research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Assessing barriers to musculoskeletal trauma care in Ethiopia: a national providers' survey.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Physical AI goes to the operating room: are we ready for the Surgical Data Factory?Annals of surgical treatment and research · 2026Review
- Determinants of 28-day perioperative mortality and postoperative length of hospital stay among geriatric patients: a two-center prospective follow-up study in Ethiopia.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Lead Times of Optometry Services in Selected Public Hospitals in Rural South Africa.Clinical optometry · 2026Article
- Postoperative hospital stay and associated factors among adult surgical patients at a specialized hospital in Ethiopia.BMC surgery · 2025Article
- Surgical Training Profiling in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil.Cureus · 2025Article
- Assessment of surgical capacity and productivity in high-volume Ethiopian hospitals: mixed method study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Predictors of time to recovery from cataract surgery among cataract patients at Menelik II Comprehensive Specialized Hospital: a retrospective follow up study.BMC ophthalmology · 2025Article
- [Access to surgical, obstetrical and anaesthesia care in Mali: an assessment for a national plan].The Pan African medical journal · 2025Article
- Towards Establishing a National Perioperative Quality Improvement Network in LMICs: Implementation Experiences From Ethiopia.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2024Article
- Perioperative capacity and contextual challenges in teaching hospitals of southern Ethiopia: explanatory sequential mixed-methods research.Perioperative medicine (London, England) · 2024Article
- Assessing Ethiopia's surgical capacity in light of global surgery 2030 initiatives: Is there progress in the past decade?Surgery open science · 2024Review
- Article
- Essential surgery delivery in the Northern Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.BMC surgery · 2024Article
- Article
- Quality and sustainability of Ethiopia's national surgical indicators.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Perioperative mortality among trauma patients in Northwest Ethiopia: a prospective cohort study.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Perioperative Adverse Outcome and Its Predictors After Emergency Laparotomy Among Sigmoid Volvulus Patients: Retrospective Follow-Up Study.Open access emergency medicine : OAEM · 2023Article
- The Persistent Preference for Traditional Bonesetting in Ethiopia: Risk Factors and Missed Opportunities.JB & JS open accessArticle
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12 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundAccess to emergency and essential surgical care is still unmet and accessibility is disproportionately inequitable in Ethiopia and other low-and middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to assess surgical care access in terms of capability, capacity, and timeliness of care in different levels of health care in Ethiopia.
methodsA cross-sectional study with retrospective data review was conducted in 172 health facilities from December 30, 2020 to June 10, 2021. Descriptive statistics such as median with interquartile range and proportion were computed using STATA Version 15 statistical software.
resultsWithin a 90-day interval of the study period, 69,717 major and minor surgeries, and 33,052 bellwether procedures were performed, and major surgeries accounted for 58% of the surgeries. About 1.6%, 23.56%, 25.34%, and 32.2% of both major and minor, and 3.1%, 12.8%, 27.6%, and 45.3% of bellwether procedures were performed in health center OR blocks, primary, general, and specialized hospitals, respectively. Private hospitals performed 17.33% of major and minor and 11.2% of bellwether procedures for the period. The average pre-admission waiting time for surgical patients in primary, general, and specialized hospitals was 9.68, 37.6, and 35.9 days, respectively, whereas, in private hospitals, the average pre-admission waiting time was 1.42 days. On average, surgical patients traveled 5 Hrs, 11 Hrs, 28.4 Hrs, and 21.3 Hrs to access surgical services in primary, general, specialized, and private hospitals, respectively. The surgical workforce to the population served ratio was 7.5, 1.15, and 1.31/100.000 population in primary, specialized and general hospitals, respectively.
conclusionMost surgical procedures were performed in specialized hospitals, indicating that there is a burden in these health facilities. The pre-admission waiting time for surgical patients was long in higher-level public hospitals. Surgical patients traveled a long distance to access surgical service in higher level hospitals. The ratio of surgical workforce per 100,000 population served was low in all levels of public health facilities in general, and in higher level hospitals in particular. Efforts should therefore be made to strengthen all levels of the health system and improve surgical care access in terms of capacity, capability, and timeliness in the country.
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