Practice Guidelines for Primary Care of Acute Abdomen
Conditions
Keywords
Acute Abdomen, Practice guidelines, Primary Health Care, Adaptation, Implementation Strategies, Effectiveness-Implementation Hybrid Type 2 Study Design
Brief summary
The study aims 1) to adapt, 2) to develop implementation strategies for and 3) to evaluate the effect of implementing a practice guideline for acute abdomen at primary care level in Zambia. We employ a sequential exploratory mixed method study design. Qualitative and quantitative data from health care workers will be used to adapt a practice guideline developed in a high-income into a low- and middle-income (LMIC) context and to develop strategies for successful implementation. The primary outcome of interest is the prospective change in length of stay in hospital among patients presenting with acute abdomen in the intervention site compared to the control site. The study will address the scarcity of literature on practice guidelines for acute abdomen in the LMIC context. The implementation of an adapted guideline may contribute to a reduction of the morbidity and mortality rates associated with acute abdomen in this setting by increasing management capacity at the primary care level.
Interventions
OTHERPractice guidelines for primary care of acute abdomen
Adjusted practice guidelines for primary care of acute abdomen will be implemented at the intervention site.
OTHERNo intervention
The control site will receive no intervention.
Sponsors
University of Bergen
University of Zambia
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Data from all patients 18 year and older with acute abdomen including surgical, gynecological and medical acute abdomen managed at the intervention site and control site will be collected during the study period.
Exclusion criteria
* All cases of acute abdomen secondary to trauma will be excluded from the study. All patients in the immediate postoperative phase operated from other facilities presenting with acute abdomen.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Length of Hospital Stay | 7 days | The duration of time in days that a patient with acute abdomen stays in the hospital from the day of admission to discharge |
Countries
Zambia
Contacts
CONTACTWilson Mbewe, MD
STUDY_DIRECTORElisabeth Marie Strømme, MD, PhD
University of Bergen
STUDY_DIRECTORThomas Mildestvedt, MD, PhD
University of Bergen
STUDY_DIRECTOREivind Meland
University of Bergen
STUDY_DIRECTORMpundu Makasa
University of Zambia
Outcome results
None listed