Browsing by Author "Dhansay, Ali"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemEpidemiology of lower respiratory infection and pneumonia in South Africa (1997 – 2015) : a systematic review protocol(BMJ Publishing Group, 2016) Roomaney, Rifqah A.; Pillay-van Wyk, Victoria; Awotiwon, Oluwatoyin F.; Dhansay, Ali; Groenewald, Pam; Joubert, Jane D.; Nglazi, Mweete D.; Nicol, Edward; Bradshaw, DebbieIntroduction: Lower respiratory infections (LRIs) and pneumonia are among the leading causes of death worldwide, especially in children aged under 5 years, and these patterns are reflected in the South African population. Local epidemiological data for LRIs and pneumonia are required to inform the Second National Burden of Disease Study underway in South Africa. The aim of this systematic review is to identify published studies reporting the prevalence, incidence, case fatality, duration or severity of LRI and pneumonia in adults and children in South Africa. Methods and analysis: Electronic database searches will be conducted to obtain studies reporting on the prevalence, incidence, case fatality, duration and severity of LRI and pneumonia in South Africa between January 1997 and December 2015. Studies that are assessed to have moderate or low risk of bias will be included in a meta-analysis, if appropriate. Where meta-analysis is not possible, the articles will be described narratively. Subgroup analysis (eg, age groups) will also be conducted where enough information is available. Ethics and dissemination: This systematic review will only include published data with no linked patientlevel information; thus, no ethics approval is required. The findings will be used to calculate the burden of disease attributed to LRI and pneumonia in South Africa and will highlight the type of epidemiological data available in the country. The article will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed publication.
- ItemTranslating new evidence into clinical practice : a quasi-experimental controlled before–after study evaluating the effect of a novel outreach mentoring approach on knowledge, attitudes and confidence of health workers providing HIV and infant feeding counselling in South Africa(BMJ Publishing, 2020-10) Goga, Ameena; Doherty, Tanya; Manda, Samuel; Nkwenika, Tshifhiwa; Haskins, Lyn; John, Vaughn; Engebretsen, Ingunn M. S.; Feucht, Ute; Dhansay, Ali; Rollins, Nigel; Kroon, Max; Sanders, David; Kauchali, Shuaib; Tylleskär, Thorkild; Horwood, ChristianeObjectives We report the effectiveness of a mentoring approach to improve health workers’ (HWs’) knowledge, attitudes and confidence with counselling on HIV and infant feeding. Design Quasi-experimental controlled before–after study. Setting Randomly selected primary healthcare clinics (n=24 intervention, n=12 comparison); two districts, South Africa. Participants All HWs providing infant feeding counselling in selected facilities were invited. Interventions Three 1–2 hours, on-site workshops over 3–6 weeks. Primary outcome measures Knowledge (22 binary questions), attitude (21 questions—5-point Likert Scale) and confidence (19 questions—3-point Likert Scale). Individual item responses were added within each of the attitude and confidence domains. The respective sums were taken to be the domain composite index and used as a dependent variable to evaluate intervention effect. Linear regression models were used to estimate the mean score difference between intervention and comparison groups postintervention, adjusting for the mean score difference between them at baseline. Analyses were adjusted for participant baseline characteristics and clustering at health facility level. Results In intervention and comparison sites, respectively: 289 and 131 baseline and 253 and 114 follow-up interviews were conducted (August–December 2017). At baseline there was no difference in mean number of correctly answered knowledge questions; this differed significantly at follow-up (15.2 in comparison; 17.2 in intervention sites (p<0.001)). At follow-up, the mean attitude and confidence scores towards breast feeding were better in intervention versus comparison sites (p<0.001 and p=0.05, respectively). Controlling for confounders, interactions between time and intervention group and preintervention values, the attitude score was 5.1 points significantly higher in intervention versus comparison groups. Conclusion A participatory, low-intensity on-site mentoring approach to disseminating updated infant feeding guidelines improved HWs’ knowledge, attitudes and confidence more than standard dissemination via a circular. Further research is required to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility and sustainability of this approach at scale.