[PDF] Compliance with Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test Results and Correlates among Clinicians in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria: 2018 | Semantic Scholar (2024)

Patients most vulnerable to serious outcomes, children < 5 years and those in low-transmission settings, were most likely tonot be prescribed antimalarials, and young children inLowTransmission settings were least likely to be treated for malaria.

Investigation and explain the level of adherence to malaria diagnosis and treatment guidelines among healthcare providers working in formal private health facilities in north-western Ethiopia found private healthcare providers adhered to universal parasitological diagnosis, providing comprehensive counseling, and linking patients with community health workers.

Close monitoring of RDT scale-up will be needed to ensure that RDTs truly improve malaria case management, and some key issues that need to be further delineated are the low field specificity of R DTs, variable RDT performance by different cadres of health workers and the need for a robust quality assurance system.

Despite efforts to expand the provision of malaria diagnostics in Zambia, they continue to be underused and patients with negative test results frequently receive antimalarials.

Anti-malarial prescription to patients with negative test results and those not tested is still practiced in Tanzania despite the universal malaria testing policy of fever patients, and stock-outs of RDTs and staff shortage accounted for the low testing rate, and health worker perceptions were the main reason for non-adherence to test results.

Malaria RDTs are generally used well, though compliance with test results is variable – especially in the formal health care sector, and Multidisciplinary research should continue to explore determinants of good RDT use.

RDT-supported malaria diagnosis may have led to the overprescription of ACTs, with the drug being prescribed to people with RDT-negative results, however, the prescription of other antimalarial drugs that are not first-line drugs has been reduced.

Compliance to RDT appears to be generally fair in sub-Saharan Africa; compliance to negative results will need to improve to prevent mismanagement of patients and overprescribing of anti-malarial drugs.

Significant difference between public and private healthcare workers on adherence to national malaria diagnosis and treatment guidelines is demonstrated and private sector engagement in implementation of the guidelines, training and supply of recommended antimalarial medicines should be intensified.

Evidence is provided that RDT can be reliably integrated in IMCI as a tool for improved childhood fever management and the relatively low RDT sensitivity highlights the need for improved quality control of RDT use in primary health care facilities, but also for more sensitive point-of-care malaria diagnostic tools.

RDTs have the potential to be cost-effective in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, but Appropriate management of malaria and non-malarial febrile illnesses is required to reap the full benefits of these tests.

Attitudinal support for the test and treat protocol, as assessed by a nine-item measure, improved across time, and additional health worker support will likely be required to achieve this.

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