ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Pathwise Uniqueness of Non-uniformly Elliptic SDEs with Rough Coefficients

In this paper, we review and improve pathwise uniqueness results for some types of one-dimensional stochastic differential equations (SDE) involving the local time of the unknown process. The diffusion coefficient of the SDEs we consider is allowed to vanish on a set of positive measure and is not assumed to be smooth. As opposed to various existing results, our arguments are mainly based on the comparison theorem for local time and the occupation time formula. We apply our pathwise uniqueness results to derive strong existence and other properties of solutions for SDEs with rough coefficients.

Source: UG
Patient perspective on barriers in type 2 diabetes self management: A qualitative study

Aim: To explore the perceived barriers in Type 2 Diabetes care among patients with diabetes. Design The study adopted a qualitative exploratory-descriptive design. Methods: A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data from fifteen (15) purposively sampled patients with Type 2 Diabetes at a primary level health fa cility in the Bono East region. Participants' ages ranged between 42–72 years. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic content analysis. Results: Patients with Type 2 Diabetes encountered a range of barriers in diabetes care. These barriers included lack of knowledge of diabetes dietary management strategies, financial constraints, non-compliance to treatment, lack of glucometers, lack of social support, and increased waiting time at health care facilities. The findings indicate that more education on diabetes and dietary management is required as well as social support from peers, family, and non-governmental organizations. Patient or public contribution: Diabetes self-management barriers as revealed by the patients who were participants of this study requires nurses and midwives to ensure that self-management education is well understood by patients and their relatives. This would empower the patients and bring clarity to their confusion about self-care practices

Source: UG
Patient satisfaction with perioperative nursing care in a tertiary hospital in Ghana

Purpose – Promoting patient satisfaction is crucial for healthcare quality improvement. However, literature on patient satisfaction with nursing care in Ghana is limited. The aim of this study was to assess patient satisfaction with perioperative nursing care in Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, the largest tertiary hospital in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – The study was a cross-sectional study. A sample of one hundred (n 5 100) in-patients in the surgical department were interviewed. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 22, was used to analyze the data. The results were presented using univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses. Findings – It was found that majority of the respondents were males (53%), employed (56%) and insured (85%). It was also found that eight in ten respondents were satisfied with the perioperative nursing care. Overall patient satisfaction with perioperative nursing care was significantly associated with information provision (p< 0.001), nurse–patient relationship (p< 0.001), fear and concern (p< 0.05) and discomfort and need (p < 0.05). At the multivariate level, overall patient satisfaction was significantly influenced by nurse–patient relationship (β 5 0.430, p 5 0.002). Originality/value – There is limited literature on nursing care in surgical departments and rarely are patients’ views considered in assessing quality of perioperative care, especially in Low- and Middle- Income Countries (LMICs). This study is a modest contribution to the literature on patient satisfaction with perioperative nursing care in Ghana.

Source: UG
Patient satisfaction with primary health care – a comparison between insured and non-insured under the National Health Insurance Policy of Ghana

Ghana has initiated various health sector reforms over the past decades aimed at strengthening institutions, improving the overall health system and increasing access to healthcare services by all groups of people. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) instituted in 2005, is an innovative system aimed at making health care more accessible to people who need it. Currently, there is a growing amount of concern about the capacity of the NHIS to make quality health care accessible to its clients. A number of studies have concentrated on the effect of health insurance status on demand for health services, but have been quiet on supply side issues. The main aim of this study is to examine the overall satisfaction with health care among the insured and uninsured under the NHIS. The second aim is to explore the relations between overall satisfaction and socio-demographic characteristics, health insurance and the various dimensions of quality of care. This study employs logistic regression using household survey data in three districts in Ghana covering the 3 ecological zones (coastal, forest and savannah). It identifies the service quality factors that are important to patients’ satisfaction and examines their links to their health insurance status. The results indicate that a higher proportion of insured patients are satisfied with the overall quality of care compared to the uninsured. The key predictors of overall satisfaction are waiting time, friendliness of staff and satisfaction of the consultation process. These results highlight the importance of interpersonal care in health care facilities. Feedback from patients’ perception of health services and satisfaction surveys improve the quality of care provided and therefore effort must be made to include these findings in future health policies.

Source: UG
Patient satisfaction with the quality of care in Ghana’s health-care institutions A disaggregated approach

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to examine patient satisfaction with the quality of care in Ghana’s health-care facilities using a disaggregated approach. Design/methodology/approach – The study was a cross-sectional national survey. A sample of 4,079 males and females in the age group of 15-49 years were interviewed. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis and t-tests were used in statistical analysis. Findings – About 70 per cent of patients were satisfied with the quality of care provided in health-care facilities in Ghana, whereas about 30 per cent of patients were fairly satisfied. Females and insured patients weremore likely to be satisfied with the quality of care, compared with males and uninsured patients. Research limitations/implications – Because data were obtained from a national survey, the questionnaire did not include the type of facility patients attended to find out whether satisfaction with the quality of care varied by the type of health facility. Future studies may, therefore, include this. Practical implications – The study contributes to the literature on patient satisfaction with the quality of care. It highlights that long waiting time remains an intractable problem at various service delivery units of health facilities and constitutes a major source of patient dissatisfaction with the quality of care. Innovative measures must, therefore, be adopted to address the problem. Originality/value – There is a paucity of research that uses a disaggregated approach to examine patient satisfaction with the quality of care at various service delivery units of health facilities. This study is a modest contribution to this research gap.

Source: UG
Patient-level performance evaluation of a smartphone-based malaria diagnostic application

Background Microscopic examination is commonly used for malaria diagnosis in the feld. However, the lack of well-trained microscopists in malaria-endemic areas impacted the most by the disease is a severe problem. Besides, the examination process is time-consuming and prone to human error. Automated diagnostic systems based on machine learning ofer great potential to overcome these problems. This study aims to evaluate Malaria Screener, a smartphone-based application for malaria diagnosis. Methods A total of 190 patients were recruited at two sites in rural areas near Khartoum, Sudan. The Malaria Screener mobile application was deployed to screen Giemsa-stained blood smears. Both expert microscopy and nested PCR were performed to use as reference standards. First, Malaria Screener was evaluated using the two reference standards. Then, during post-study experiments, the evaluation was repeated for a newly developed algorithm, PlasmodiumVF-Net. Results Malaria Screener reached 74.1% (95% CI 63.5–83.0) accuracy in detecting Plasmodium falciparum malaria using expert microscopy as the reference after a threshold calibration. It reached 71.8% (95% CI 61.0–81.0) accuracy when compared with PCR. The achieved accuracies meet the WHO Level 3 requirement for parasite detection. The processing time for each smear varies from 5 to 15 min, depending on the concentration of white blood cells (WBCs). In the post-study experiment, Malaria Screener reached 91.8% (95% CI 83.8–96.6) accuracy when patient-level results were calculated with a diferent method. This accuracy meets the WHO Level 1 requirement for parasite detection. In addition, PlasmodiumVF-Net, a newly developed algorithm, reached 83.1% (95% CI 77.0–88.1) accuracy when compared with expert microscopy and 81.0% (95% CI 74.6–86.3) accuracy when compared with PCR, reaching the WHO Level 2 requirement for detecting both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria, without using the testing sites data for training or calibration. Results reported for both Malaria Screener and PlasmodiumVF-Net used thick smears for diagnosis. In this paper, both systems were not assessed in species identification and parasite counting, which are still under development.

Source: UG
Patient-level performance evaluation of a smartphone-based malaria diagnostic application

Background Microscopic examination is commonly used for malaria diagnosis in the field. However, the lack of well-trained microscopists in malaria-endemic areas impacted the most by the disease is a severe problem. Besides, the examination process is time-consuming and prone to human error. Automated diagnostic systems based on machine learning ofer great potential to overcome these problems. This study aims to evaluate Malaria Screener, a smartphone-based application for malaria diagnosis. Methods A total of 190 patients were recruited at two sites in rural areas near Khartoum, Sudan. The Malaria Screener mobile application was deployed to screen Giemsa-stained blood smears. Both expert microscopy and nested PCR were performed to use as reference standards. First, Malaria Screener was evaluated using the two reference standards. Then, during post-study experiments, the evaluation was repeated for a newly developed algorithm, PlasmodiumVF-Net. Results Malaria Screener reached 74.1% (95% CI 63.5–83.0) accuracy in detecting Plasmodium falciparum malaria using expert microscopy as the reference after a threshold calibration. It reached 71.8% (95% CI 61.0–81.0) accuracy when compared with PCR. The achieved accuracies meet the WHO Level 3 requirement for parasite detection. The processing time for each smear varies from 5 to 15 min, depending on the concentration of white blood cells (WBCs). In the post-study experiment, Malaria Screener reached 91.8% (95% CI 83.8–96.6) accuracy when patient-level results were calculated with a different method. This accuracy meets the WHO Level 1 requirement for parasite detection. In addition, PlasmodiumVF-Net, a newly developed algorithm, reached 83.1% (95% CI 77.0–88.1) accuracy when compared with expert microscopy and 81.0% (95% CI 74.6–86.3) accuracy when compared with PCR, reaching the WHO Level 2 requirement for detecting both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria, without using the testing sites data for training or calibration. Results reported for both Malaria Screener and PlasmodiumVF-Net used thick smears for diagnosis. In this paper, both systems were not assessed in species identifcation and parasite counting, which are still under development.

Source: UG
Patients versus healthcare providers' perceptions of quality of care Establishing the gaps for policy action

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to find out whether there are any significant gaps in perceptions of quality of care between patients and healthcare providers in Ghana's hospitals. Design/methodology/approach - A cross-sectional survey of patients seeking outpatient consultations in 17 general hospitals in Ghana was conducted. A total of 818 patients and 152 hospital managers were interviewed. A 22-item quality of care scale was used in data collection. Data were analysed with the aid SPSS version 20. Summary statistics and t-test were used to analyse the data. Findings - There was a significant difference in the overall perception of quality of care between patients and healthcare providers (Patients: M=89.11, SD=11.457; Providers: M=94.60, SD=10.922; t (845) -4.956, po001, two-tailed). Also, 18 items out of the 22-item quality of care scale showed significant difference between patients and providers. However, levels of quality of care is generally rated fairly favourably by both category of respondents. Research limitations/implications - Further study is required to explore the reasons for the perceived quality gaps between patients and healthcare providers. Practical implications - Management of hospitals need to evaluate patients' perceptions of quality of care to inform measures aimed at improving quality of care, since what they may consider as good quality service may be rated less favourably by patients. Originality/value - Comparing perceptions of quality between patients and healthcare providers is important in order adopt measures to address any differences in perceptions of quality between the two stakeholders. To the best of the author's knowledge no study has been conducted in Ghana to that effect. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Source: UG
Patients’ experiences of pre and intra operative nursing care in Ghana: A qualitative study

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore surgical patients’ experiences of preoperative and intraoperative nursing care. Materials and methods: The study was conducted at the Regional Hospital, Bolgatanga, Ghana and employed a qualitative explorative descriptive design. Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants. The data was saturated with 15 participants aged between 23 and 65 years. All the interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Results: The nurses reassured, counseled and pre-habilitated patients where necessary. They also provided physical care to patients but failed to involve patients in their care. Nurses did not take patients’ medical history. Nurses poorly managed patients’ pain during surgery and safety measures were not adequately employed resulting in some patients sustaining minor injuries due to poor usage of theatre equipment such as diathermy machines. Nurses also provided inadequate information to patients and this resulted in patients being confused and anxious. Conclusions: The study showed that some nurses require further training to provide better care to their surgical patients.

Source: UG
Patients‘ Perception on The Causes of Mental Illness at Zauro General Hospital, Kebbi State, Nigeria.

The purpose of this study was to explore the patient‘s perception about the causes of mental illness. The study was done at Zauro General Hospital Kebbi State Nigeria. An exploratory- descriptive design within the qualitative paradigm was used. In-depth one-on-one interview with thirteen (13) participants between the ages of 30-54 years old. All participants consented to participate and they were used purposively sampled. No form of coercion was used to attract or retain them. The interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim after which content analysis was done to identify themes and categories. A key finding in this study was that patient‘s perception on the causes of mental illness indicated that patients perceived genetics, physical illness, and chemical imbalance/chemical as the causes of their illness. Other findings included: witchcraft, emotional experience, resources, occupations, and family/homes. It was recommended that health care providers should create an avenue to enlighten their patients on mental illness.

Source: UG
Patients’ Perceptions of Health Professionals’ Communication during Endotracheal Intubation at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana

Communication is a vital and basic component of nursing. Nurse-patient communication is essential to establish trust, friendly working relationship and to discuss treatment methods. However, patients admitted to the intensive care units and given respiratory treatment, are unable to communicate verbally due to the insertion of artificial airways, tracheostomy or endotracheal tubes. Such patients therefore rely on nonverbal communication methods to express their needs which could be missed out or misinterpreted by health professionals resulting in anxiety, frustration and self-removal of the artificial airways. The aim of this study was to explore Intensive Care Unit Patients’ experiences of how they communicated with Nurses while they had endotracheal tubes in situ. The study employed the exploratory descriptive approach to qualitative research. Purposive sampling technique was employed to recruit participants for the study. Nine (9) participants were recruited for participation in the study. All participants were conscious for at least 24 hours while they still had endotracheal tube in situ. The interviews were conducted between two weeks and two months after participants were discharged home from hospital. Gestures were the major nonverbal method of communication used by the intensive care unit patients. However, most intensive care unit nurses did not understand gestures hence the needs being expressed by the intensive care unit patients were unmet. Negative emotions such as anger, frustration, fear and loneliness were expressed by participants when they realized that they had lost their voices. Some participants attempted self extubation to enable them use their voices. It is recommended that intensive care unit nurses must have orientation for intensive care unit patients after regaining consciousness. Methods of attracting the nurses’ attention must be uniform and must not be different from one nurse to another. Intensive care unit nurses must develop accepted meanings for common gestures which would be used by patients while on admission. Further studies is needed to uncover the reasons of self-extubation from the patients’ perspective

Source: UG
Patients’ Postoperative Recovery Experiences After Abdominal Surgery: A Study In The Ho Municipality

Postoperative recovery is an integral part of the surgical experience. In Ghana, there is inadequate evidence about postoperative recovery experiences after abdominal surgery. This study explored these experiences using the conceptual framework of operationalisation of postoperative recovery developed by Allvin and others in 2009. An exploratory descriptive qualitative approach was used. Eligible participants aged 18 to 63 years were recruited from Volta Regional Hospital, Ho. There was face-to-face interview with 15 participants. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using framework data analysis method. Findings suggested participants recovering from abdominal surgery experienced physical symptoms including pain, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, appetite changes, and altered sleep pattern. Physical functions impaired included gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, bladder and urethral functions. Additionally, there was impaired mobilisation, muscle weakness, alteration in sexual activity and impaired skin integrity. Symptoms and presence of functional deficits affected their psychological and social well-being. Participants also experienced anxiety, depression, and difficulty in concentration, reduced social activity, and dependence. Participants received support from their spouses, family, friends, and religious affiliations. Self-motivation, cautiousness, and self-medications facilitated postoperative recovery experiences. Nurses and doctors donated blood to and provided financial support to some participants. Health education on medications and diagnosis was however inadequate. The postoperative recovery period was associated with unpleasant experiences therefore; support and professionalism are essential considerations. Health professionals also require adequate training and resources that will facilitate safe and comfortable recovery after abdominal surgery. Furthermore, government needs to revise the National Health Insurance Scheme policy to fully cover the entire cost of financing abdominal surgeries.

Source: UG
Patients’ Preference For Nurses’ Gender In Nursing Care At The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi

Accommodating patients‘ preference for nurses‘ gender in health care is vital in the provision of patient centred care and ensuring patient satisfaction and better health outcome. The study aimed at exploring patients‘ preference for nurses‘ gender in nursing care at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi. Rooted in the Rational Choice Theory, the study adopted and used the qualitative exploratory descriptive design. Participants were recruited using purposive sampling technique. A semi-structured interview guide was used to elicit information from 14 participants. The data were analyzed using thematic content analysis and five main themes emerged. The study noted that: patients had a varying preference for nurses but gender was not particularly significant in patients‘ preferences for nurses. It was rather found that patients‘ preferences were determined by their wellbeing, disease condition, type of care, religion, the attitude of nurses and hospital policy. However, nurses of the same gender were preferred for intimate procedures to ensure privacy and satisfaction. The additional result that emerged outside the constructs of RCT revealed that: the majority of nurses had a bad attitude towards patients, male nurses were labelled as unsuitable for nursing. However, participants indicated the need to increase male nurses in the nursing profession. It was recommended that it would be ideal to match patients with the preferred nurses to ensure patient satisfaction, though most health care systems do not have adequate capacity to satisfy patients‘ preference and have not factored patients‘ preference into health care policies. Therefore, it may be essential that health policy makers factor patients‘ preferences into health policy. Future research has been recommended to centre on the preference of women for the gender of their midwives in Ghana to inform the continued training of male midwives or otherwise since the training of male midwives in Ghana has come to a halt.

Source: UG