dc.description.abstract | Background: Research shows that there is an improved outcome when standardized guidelines
are used in the management of mothers with severe preeclampsia/eclampsia1, 2.
Unavailability and non-use of these guidelines could contribute to deaths and poor outcomes
reported in many District and Provincial Hospitals in Kenya. Lack of resources for guideline
implementation and lack of continuous knowledge appraisal for healthcare workers regarding the
current recommendations in the management of severe preeclampsia/eclampsia could be
contributing to non-use of guidelines.
According to Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) 2008/9, maternal mortality rate is
higher in Garissa Provincial General Hospital (GPGH) standing at 1000-1300 per 100,000 live
births, compared to the national average of 488 per 100,000 live births.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has made progress in formulating evidence based
policies. The Kenyan ministry of health guidelines for management of severe preeclampsia/
eclampsia uses WHO guidelines as the reference with modification to fit in with the
local situations. The WHO has shown and recommended the use of magnesium sulphate (Mgo4)
in the management of severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia as it improves maternal outcome and
minimizes morbidities and mortalities. Despite this policy recommendation and the eclampsia
trial which showed efficacy of MgSO4 for management of severe preeclampsia/eclampsia having
been published over ten years ago and despite it being a drug of choice in WHO policy, this is
not widely practiced in most hospitals in Kenya. Garissa Provincial General Hospital (GPGH) is
a case in point. So, clearly, shifting policy is one thing and changing behavior among health
workers is another.
This study helped to identify the barriers health care workers faced in application of guidelines
and helped fill the gaps between policy and practice.
Objective: To assess barriers to using severe preeclampsia/eclampsia guidelines at Garissa
PGH.
Design: A cohort study where antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum treatment given to women
with severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia were analyzed. An interviewer administered questionnaire
was used to assess health workers’ knowledge, attitude and practices. A drug inventory chart was
used to assess drug stocking in the hospital. Women were classified into those in whose
management guidelines were adhered to and those where they were not. Their subsequent
outcomes were documented. The target population was antenatal women visiting Garissa PGH
and a sample size of 81 cases was used to estimate the proportion in whom guidelines were
followed with a 10% precision. Recruitment was done by convenient sampling. Women were
included if they developed severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia from the 20th week of gestation or in
the puerperium. Data was analyzed using SPSS 16.
Outcome measures: maternal morbidity was assessed based on postnatal hospital stay,
occurrence of eclampsia in a patient with severe pre-eclampsia, presence of organ damage and
maternal death.
Fetal outcome was assessed based on the need for admission to nursery, Apgar score at 5
minutes, birth weight and gestational age at which pregnancy was terminated.
Setting: Garissa Provincial General Hospital.
Materials and methods: data abstraction tool used to determine whether treatment given to
women with preeclampsia/eclampsia was according to guideline recommendations. An
interviewer administered questionnaire was used to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of
healthcare workers.
Ethical considerations: permission to carry out this research was sought from the Kenyatta
National Hospital (KNH)/UoN ethics and research committee (appendix 7). Permission was
obtained from the medical superintended at Garissa PGH.
Health workers in this study were required to give a written informed consent (appendix 2) prior
to their participation. The information gathered from research participants was treated
confidentially.
Results: The study showed that more nurses (61.19%) and clinical officers (23.43%) were the
majority of healthcare professionals handling women with severe preeclampsia/eclampsia than
trained doctors (15.38%). It also showed that doctors were generally aware of guideline
recommendations than were nurses and clinical officers (p value=1.000). Though a majority of
health care workers alluded to the existence of guidelines in the Hospital, medical records of
patients managed with severe preeclampsia/eclampsia examined were short of the guideline
recommendations.
Although most of healthcare workers were in agreement that guidelines for management of
severe preeclampsia/eclampsia existed, they were rarely followed, if at all and thus the high
mortality and morbidity noted can be attributed to this.
Conclusion: guidelines for management of severe preeclampsia/eclampsia were available in
Garissa PGH but management of women with these conditions did not always adhere to
guideline recommendations. Most of the staff managing these women had little or no knowledge
on what to do hence the high mortality and morbidity reported.
Recommendations: There is need to consider continuing medical education for nurses, clinical
officers and medical officers to shore up their knowledge on management of women with severe
preeclampsia/eclampsia as per the guideline recommendations. The relevant authorities charged
to ensure that quality healthcare is offered should intensify supervision to ensure the
recommended management is practiced. Prospective and cohort studies will be needed to
validate the findings and confirm whether our findings are due to failures in recording tasks that
are actually performed or whether some tasks that are recorded are actually not performed. | en_US |
dc.description.department | a
Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, ; bDepartment of Mental Health, School of Medicine,
Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya | |