Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35915498›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2022

Barriers and motivation for presumptive tuberculosis case referral: qualitative analysis among operators of community medicine outlets in Ghana.

M P Kwabla, C J Klett-Tammen, S Castell

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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 3 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Private sector engagement in tuberculosis detection: a bibliometric analysis.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2026
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4 · The record

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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

3 authors.

M P KwablaDepartment for Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Brunswick, Germany.
C J Klett-TammenDepartment for Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Brunswick, Germany.
S CastellDepartment for Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Brunswick, Germany. stefanie.castell@helmholtz-hzi.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCommunity medicine outlets (CMOs) are the first point of call for individuals presenting with cough in Ghana. Although operators of CMOs comprising pharmacists and over-the-counter (OTC) medicine sellers largely support the public-private mix strategy which seeks to engage pharmacies in tuberculosis (TB) case detection, a significant proportion is not involved in TB referral services. The study explores the barriers to and motivation for presumptive TB case referral among CMO operators.

methodsWe used open- and close-ended questions nested in a telephone survey which assessed factors associated with presumptive TB case referral among CMO operators (n = 465). We interviewed participants using computer assisted telephone interviews and analysed the qualitative data using adjusted Mayring's structured qualitative content analysis.

resultsBased on participants' own experiences, non-referral was attributed to negative attitudes of presumed cases (48.2%) and inability to meet the financial demands of referred presumed cases (26.3%). Regarding their perception of barriers to TB referral for their professional colleagues, an assumed lack of TB training (44.5%) and an assumed negative attitude of operators (43.6%) were mentioned. From close-ended questions, most chosen barriers to referral were: the assumption of not having seen a presumptive TB case yet (31.8%), lack of TB training (22.2%) and no monetary motivation for operators (10.5%). Most operators (81.6%) view TB referral services as their social responsibility and feel self-motivated to refer cases in order to control the spread of TB in their communities. Of 152 further comments extracted as recommendations to improve referral, 101 (66.4%) of respondents would only refer with the availability of support systems in the form of TB training and making TB diagnostic testing more accessible.

conclusionOperators of CMOs are predominantly self-motivated to refer presumptive TB cases. Barriers to referral might be mitigated by providing more training to operators and specific financial support such as reimbursement of travel costs to presumptive cases.

Indexed as

MotivationTuberculosisCommunity MedicineGhanaHumansReferral and ConsultationCommunity medicine outletsGhanaPresumptive TB case referral

Identifiers

PMID35915498
PMCPMC9341095

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