ArticleBMJ open2025
Equitable access to quality trauma systems in Ghana: a qualitative study.
Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Radiological assessment of traumatic bone injuries secondary to motorcycle accidents in Ghana: a multi-center cross-sectional study.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2026Article
- Visualisation of a complex healthcare system: mapping vascular and trauma surgery services in Ghana.BMC health services research · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
objectivesTo explore the barriers to accessing quality trauma care after injury in Ghana.
designA qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions in one rural and one urban setting. Interviews and focus group discussions were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed using the four-delay framework.
participants53 patient participants (n=39 men, n=14 women, mean age=41, SD=15.6, n=38 rural participants, n=15 urban participants) who had an injury not more than 6 months preceding the start of the study. SETTINGS: 15 individual interviews (n=15) and 2 focus group discussions (n=23) were conducted in Yendi (rural setting in Ghana) and 10 individual interviews (n=10) and 1 focus group discussion (n=5) in the Tamale metropolis (urban setting in Ghana).
resultsOur findings showed that when an injury occurred, participants faced multiple barriers across all delays which prevented them from accessing quality injury care. Barriers were a mix of individual, community-level and health-system factors that were interrelated in many ways. Financial difficulties were one of the prominent barriers mentioned by the participants in both settings.
conclusionThis study shows that multiple factors cause an injured patient to delay in seeking care, reaching care, receiving care and remaining in care. Therefore, there is a pressing need for comprehensive, community-driven strategies to strengthen health literacy at the community level. There is also a need for facility-based strategies that would improve the availability of medical and human resources to augment access to quality trauma care. Additionally, if policymakers focus on removing financial barriers to trauma care and strengthening referral systems, especially in the remote and rural areas, it would greatly improve access to quality trauma care in Ghana.
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