Laboratory of Emergency Medical Services, Seoul National University Hospital Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
PLoS One. 2019 Feb 8;14(2):e0211777. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211777. eCollection 2019.
In effort to address the shortage of emergency medical care in Cameroon, the Yaoundé Emergency Center (CURY) was established in June, 2015 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. To evaluate its impact on the communities of Yaoundé, we assessed the changes in utilizations of emergency medical care since the establishment of the CURY. In 2014 the first survey was conducted on randomly selected 619 households (3,201 individuals) living in six health districts of Yaoundé. In 2017 the second quantitative survey was conducted on 622 households (3,472 individuals) using the same survey methods as the first survey. In both surveys, data on demographic information, socioeconomic status, and utilization of healthcare, including emergency care in the past year were collected on every member of the households via face-to-face interview. Data on two surveys were compared. Participants in the both surveys had similar age and gender distribution with mean age of 21-22 and 46% being male. In 2014 survey, healthcare utilization rates for emergency unit, outpatient, and hospitalization were 4.8%, 36.7%, and 10.0%, respectively. In 2017 survey, corresponding rates were 5.8%, 32.5%, and 9.2%%, respectively. The increase in the utilization of emergency unit between two surveys showed a marginal statistical significance (p = 0.08), while outpatient utilization showed statistically significant decrease from 2014 to 2017 survey (from 36.7% to 32.5%; p <0.001). After the establishment of a dedicated emergency medical center in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the utilization of emergency care was increased in the Yaoundé community. Further studies are warranted to examine the direct effect of the establishment of the CURY on healthcare utilization in Yaoundé.
为了解决喀麦隆紧急医疗服务的短缺问题，雅温得紧急救援中心（CURY）于 2015 年 6 月在喀麦隆首都雅温得成立。为了评估其对雅温得社区的影响，我们评估了自 CURY 成立以来紧急医疗服务利用情况的变化。2014 年，我们首次对雅温得 6 个卫生区的 619 户（3201 人）随机抽样家庭进行了调查。2017 年，我们使用与首次调查相同的调查方法，对 622 户（3472 人）进行了第二次定量调查。在这两次调查中，我们通过面对面访谈收集了每个家庭的人口统计信息、社会经济状况以及过去一年的医疗保健利用情况，包括紧急护理情况。比较了两次调查的数据。两次调查的参与者年龄和性别分布相似，平均年龄为 21-22 岁，男性占 46%。2014 年的调查中，急诊、门诊和住院的医疗保健利用率分别为 4.8%、36.7%和 10.0%。2017 年的调查中，相应的利用率分别为 5.8%、32.5%和 9.2%。两次调查中急诊利用率的增加具有边缘统计学意义（p=0.08），而门诊利用率从 2014 年到 2017 年的调查呈统计学显著下降（从 36.7%降至 32.5%；p<0.001）。在喀麦隆雅温得成立专门的紧急医疗中心后，雅温得社区的紧急护理利用率有所增加。需要进一步的研究来检验 CURY 的成立对雅温得医疗保健利用的直接影响。
