| dc.description.abstract | In Zambia, there had been a large scaling up of new interventions to control malaria since 2003, which included the distribution of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), used to immediately determine if someone with symptoms suggestive of malaria actually has malaria; training of health workers in the use of the RDTs; and the prescription of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) to which the malaria parasite is sensitive, rather than the old treatment regime of chloroquine to which the malaria parasite had become resistant. The use of RDTs to confirm the presence of malaria before treating for it with ACT became known as the „test and treat‟ policy. Previously, since the 1960s, in malaria endemic areas such as Zambia, children presenting with fever (the commonest symptom of malaria) without any obvious other cause for the fever, were assumed to have malaria and were hence treated for it with chloroquine. This was known as "presumptive treatment" of malaria. The combination of "presumptive treatment" and the use of a single medication led to the development of high levels of resistance to chloroquine, to the extent that it is now no longer an effective treatment for malaria. Years after the introduction of the "test and treat" policy, it was still unclear to what extent it was being implemented, as there was initial reluctance by health workers to test all children presenting with fever for malaria and if they did test they may not have followed the management guidelines of treating those who test positive with ACT and further investigating those who test negative for the cause of the fever. It seemed that staff had gotten used to the "presumptive treatment" approach to malaria over almost 4 decades and hence were quite reluctant to abandon it. The conflicting guidelines for malaria treatment in children between IMCI and "test and treat‟ has promoted a paradox between presumptive treatment for malaria and "test and treat" approach as IMCI teaches health workers to treat febrile children presumptively for malaria whereas the "test and treat" approach requires them to first make a definitive diagnosis before treating. Hence although the "test and treat" approach was instituted to overcome the problems with presumptive treatment approach it now had to contend with the competing and contradictory influence of the IMCI approach. This study therefore aimed to assess what proportion of children aged five years and younger who presented with fever were managed via the "test and treat" guidelines and which factors were associated with this, in Lusaka District, Zambia. Methodology: A cross sectional analytical study design was used based on a review of medical records. A sample size of 800 medical records of children presenting with fever was selected from 10 out of the 23 health care facilities in Lusaka, using a multistage stratified random sampling technique. Four hundred records were sampled from 2008 records (five years after commencement of the "test and treat" policy) and 400 from 2011 records (eight years after commencement of the "test and treat" policy). Trained data collectors used a data extraction tool to transcribe demographic and clinical data from the medical records in a standardized manner. Data Analysis: Univariate descriptive statistics analysis was performed using measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion to analyze numerical (continuous) variables such as age, weight and body temperature; and using frequencies for categorical variables such as gender, area of residence, RDTs/microscopy malaria tests conducted, received ACT if RDT positive, presence of an ACT treatment chart on the health centre wall and availability of a weighing scale. To determine the
relationship between variables, bivariate analysis via the prevalence ratio was conducted. Results: Just over half (55%) of all children with fever were tested for malaria in 2008 and this gratifyingly increased to (73%) in 2011. Overall, the proportion of children correctly and appropriately treated with ACT, which means that those who tested positive for malaria were given ACT, was 85% in 2008 but regrettably dropped to 72% in 2011. Although "presumptive treatment" decreased from 24% in 2008 to 11% in 2011, the proportion of children with fever not tested for malaria, and although not treated for malaria, but left without a definitive diagnosis of their fever being made, remained high but dropping (22% in 2008 and 16% in 2011). Similarly the proportion of children who tested negative for malaria but then did not undergo any further investigation also unfortunately remained very high and rising (57% in 2008 and 89% in 2011). A combination of the above poor clinical management practises resulted in only 38% of children with fever in 2008 and unfortunately dropping to only 33% in 2011 being correctly managed (tested for malaria via RDT or microscopy and treated with ACT if positive, while further investigated for the cause of fever if negative). On preparedness of the health facility to implement the "test and treat" policy, it was noted that only 4 out of 10 health facilities were at least minimally prepared to do so, but paradoxically on bivariate analysis those minimally prepared were less likely (PR 0.62; 95% CI 0.41-0.94) to correctly manage the patients in 2011 than those who were unprepared. A similar paradox occurred for those correctly treated with ACT after testing positive, with facilities which were minimally prepared being less likely to do so (PR 0.28; 95% CI 0.14-0.58) in 2011 than those facilities which were unprepared to implement the "test and treat" policy. However these associations were inconsistent over time, as the associations were not present in 2008. Similarly all other factors such as staff category (doctor, nurse, clinical officer) and type of presenting symptoms besides fever (anorexia, lethargy, pallor) assessed, were not consistently associated with testing for malaria in both 2008 and 2011. The same applied for the other two main outcome variables of 'treated with ACT after test positive for malaria' and 'correctly managed child with fever', in that there were no factors that showed a consistent association with them in both 2008 and 2011. Conclusion: Testing of children with fever for malaria is at a low level but rose between 2008 and 2011. Paradoxically the proportion of those diagnosed with malaria who were correctly treated with ACT dropped between 2008 and 2011, as did the proportion of children with fever who were correctly managed. No factors assessed in this study were found to be consistently associated in both 2008 and 2011 with either testing for malaria, or treating confirmed malaria cases with ACT, or managing patients with fever correctly. Recommendations: In order for health workers to correctly implement the "test and treat" policy, which involves a series of complex steps, they ought to be formally trained to do so, mentored and constructively supervised. Additionally health facilities should be adequately equipped to enable health workers to fully implement the policy. Further studies to assess factors associated with the correct management of malaria via the "test and treat" policy are warranted. | en_US |
