Chadha S, Trivedi A, Nagaraja S B, Sagili K
International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease South-East Asia Office, New Delhi, India.
The Department of Community Medicine, Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Medical College and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (PGIMSR), Bangalore, India.
Public Health Action. 2017 Jun 21;7(2):123-126. doi: 10.5588/pha.16.0080.
A mobile health (mHealth) technology based application was developed to help rural health care providers (RHCPs) identify and refer presumptive tuberculosis (TB) patients to the nearest microscopy centre for sputum examination using mobile applications on their smart phones. To determine the feasibility and yield of presumptive TB case referrals by RHCPs using mHealth technology. The project was implemented in the tribal population of Khunti District, Jharkhand State, India, from April 2012 to February 2015. 'ComCare', a mobile application designed as an aid for health care providers, was introduced and RHCPs were trained in its use. Of 171 RHCPs who were formally trained to identify and refer presumptive TB patients, 30 were trained in the use of the mobile application. There were 35 referrals of presumptive TB patients per RHCP using the mobile application, and four each by RHCPs who were not using the application. Of the 194 TB cases diagnosed, RHCPs using the application contributed 127 (i.e., 4 TB cases per RHCP), while other RHCPs contributed 67 (0.5 TB case per RHCP). mHealth technology was highly effective, and increased both public and private health care provider accountability to patients.
开发了一种基于移动健康（mHealth）技术的应用程序，以帮助农村医疗保健提供者（RHCPs）使用智能手机上的移动应用程序，识别疑似结核病（TB）患者并将其转诊至最近的显微镜检查中心进行痰检。为了确定RHCPs使用mHealth技术转诊疑似结核病病例的可行性和产出。该项目于2012年4月至2015年2月在印度贾坎德邦孔蒂区的部落人口中实施。引入了一款名为“ComCare”的移动应用程序，作为医疗保健提供者的辅助工具，并对RHCPs进行了使用培训。在171名接受过识别和转诊疑似结核病患者正式培训的RHCPs中，有30人接受了移动应用程序使用培训。使用移动应用程序的RHCPs每人转诊了35例疑似结核病患者，未使用该应用程序的RHCPs每人转诊了4例。在确诊的194例结核病病例中，使用该应用程序的RHCPs贡献了127例（即每人4例结核病病例），而其他RHCPs贡献了67例（每人0.5例结核病病例）。mHealth技术非常有效，提高了公立和私立医疗保健提供者对患者的责任。
