Prah James Kojo, Yeboah-Sarpong Atta, Pinkrah Richard, Ewudzi-Acquah Elias
University of Cape Coast Hospital, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Ghana Ports and Harbors' Hospital, Takoradi, Ghana.
Pan Afr Med J. 2019 Dec 19;34:207. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2019.34.207.19940. eCollection 2019.
Malaria has proven to be the most fatal parasitic disease known to man. Among the pillars to malaria control are early and accurate diagnosis. In 2010, the World Health Organization launched its test, treat and track initiative which seeks to ensure that all suspected cases of malaria are tested. However, after several years of implementation, the use of malaria tests in diagnosing malaria has not been optimum. This study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge of prescribers on malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test and microscopy and to determine factors influencing prescribers' decision to request and use malaria tests in practice.
A cross sectional study was carried out among 100 prescribers of various categories working in 4 hospitals in Ghana in March 2019. A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on knowledge, malaria diagnostic practices and challenges faced by prescribers regarding parasitological testing for malaria in their health facilities.
Overall, 73% of respondents had good knowledge on malaria diagnostics. Routine use of malaria tests in diagnosing malaria was reported as 84%. Only 9% reported complete reliance on test results. Most participants (90%) reported awareness of the test-based case management of malaria.
This study demonstrated that even though there was a high level of awareness of the test-before treatment policy among prescribers, significant numbers did not routinely request a malaria test for all suspected cases of malaria. Factors cited as barriers by prescribers were both health worker and health-system related that are all potentially modifiable.
疟疾已被证明是人类已知的最致命的寄生虫病。疟疾防控的关键支柱之一是早期准确诊断。2010年，世界卫生组织发起了其检测、治疗和追踪倡议，旨在确保所有疑似疟疾病例都能得到检测。然而，经过数年实施，疟疾检测在疟疾诊断中的应用并未达到最佳状态。本研究旨在评估开处方者对疟疾快速诊断检测和显微镜检查的知识水平，并确定影响开处方者在实际工作中要求和使用疟疾检测的决定因素。
2019年3月，在加纳4家医院对100名不同类别的开处方者进行了一项横断面研究。采用预先测试的自填式问卷收集有关知识、疟疾诊断实践以及开处方者在其医疗机构中进行疟疾寄生虫学检测所面临挑战的信息。
总体而言，73%的受访者对疟疾诊断有良好的知识。报告在诊断疟疾时常规使用疟疾检测的比例为84%。只有9%的人报告完全依赖检测结果。大多数参与者（90%）报告知晓基于检测的疟疾病例管理。
本研究表明，尽管开处方者对治疗前检测政策的知晓程度较高，但仍有相当数量的人没有对所有疑似疟疾病例常规要求进行疟疾检测。开处方者提到的作为障碍的因素既有与卫生工作者相关的，也有与卫生系统相关的，这些都是有可能改变的。
