Assessing the Feasibility and Effectiveness of Introducing Pulse Oximetry in IMCI Services

Assessing the Feasibility and Effectiveness of Introducing Pulse Oximetry in IMCI Services to Manage Acute Respiratory Infections at First Level Health Facilities of Bangladesh

The purpose of the study is to assess the feasibility, acceptability and operational challenges of introducing Pulse Oximeter (PO) in IMCI services to manage acute respiratory infections at first-level primary care facilities in Bangladesh (phase 1). The investigators will also evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of introducing PO in IMCI services at first level primary care health facilities (phase 2).

This study will employ a cluster randomized controlled trial design to evaluate the effectiveness of introducing PO in IMCI services (phase-2 objective). The feasibility assessment (phase-1 objective) will be nested within the larger effectiveness trail as internal piloting; which will help in generating evidence for designing a robust phase-2 trial. First-level primary healthcare facilities providing IMCI services will be regarded as clusters and the unit of randomization. Sixteen first level primary care health facilities (UH&FWC) will be randomly assigned to comparison and intervention facilities.

Background:

1. Burden: Pneumonia is the leading cause of childhood mortality which accounts for 16% of all under-5 deaths in Bangladesh and globally. Most of these deaths happen in the developing countries, where WHO recommends adopting Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) as a strategy for outpatient management of common childhood illnesses, including pneumonia, in these poor resource settings.
2. Knowledge gap: As per the IMCI guidelines, 'Pneumonia' can be treated through home-based management with oral antibiotics, whereas 'Severe Pneumonia' should be referred to high-level facilities for inpatient care. Previously, chest indrawing was considered as one of the signs of 'Severe Pneumonia.' In 2014, WHO revised the IMCI guidelines recommending chest indrawing as a sign of 'Pneumonia' instead of 'Severe Pneumonia.' A systematic review of the home-based management of chest indrawing 'Pneumonia' reported a treatment failure rate of 8.5% on day 6. This implies that some of the chest indrawing 'Pneumonia' cases will require special inpatient care in addition to oral antibiotics and home-based management as currently recommended by WHO.
3. Relevance: Hypoxemia (SpO2<90%) is one of the strongest predictors of mortality due to pneumonia. Many of the chest indrawing 'Pneumonia' cases may have hypoxemia and need specialized inpatient care. In response to this, WHO recommended measuring SpO2 level with pulse oximetry (PO) as a part of IMCI services. As per the updated IMCI guidelines, any sick child (2-59 months) having SpO2 <90% should be referred for inpatient management, irrespective of its clinical classification. However, most of the primary care facilities are devoid of PO; and there is a paucity of evidence related to the feasibility and effectiveness of introducing of PO in primary care facilities.

Objectives:

• Phase-1: To assess the feasibility, acceptability and operational challenges of introducing PO in IMCI services at first-level primary care health facilities in Bangladesh
• Phase-2: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of introducing PO in IMCI services at first level primary care health facilities in Bangladesh

Methods:

This study will employ a cluster randomized controlled trial design to evaluate the effectiveness of introducing PO in IMCI services (phase-2 objective). The feasibility assessment (phase-1 objective) will be nested within the larger effectiveness trail as an internal piloting; which will help in generating evidence for designing a robust phase-2 trial. First-level primary healthcare facilities providing IMCI services will be regarded as clusters and the unit of randomization. Twenty-four first level primary care health facilities will be randomly assigned to comparison and intervention facilities.

In phase-1, the feasibility, acceptability and operational challenges of introducing PO in IMCI services will be assessed in the intervention facilities. Structured observation of the use of PO in IMCI services and community case tracking will be conducted to address the phase-1 objective. Rigorous process documentation and qualitative method of data collection will be employed to document the process of implementation and assess implementation outcomes.

In phase-2, effectiveness will be assessed through community case tracking in both comparison and intervention facilities. Treatment failure rate will be the primary outcome and the analysis will consider 'intention to treat' approach. In addition, activity-based costing method will be adopted for collecting cost-related data.

Outcome measures/variables:

This study will assess the effectiveness of integrating PO in IMCI services in first-level health facilities in Bangladesh. PO will be able to identify children who are classified as 'Pneumonia' based on history and clinical signs but have hypoxaemia. It will facilitate referral of children with hypoxaemia to higher level facilities.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Sick children aged 2 to 59 months
2. Presenting with cough or difficult breathing
3. Receiving IMCI services in the selected facilities will be enrolled

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Severely ill children who need to be referred immediately
2. If the parents of the children are unwilling to participate