TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of surveillance system for pneumonia in children below five years, tema metropolis, Ghana, 2012-2016
AU - Dadzie, Dora
AU - Addo-Lartey, Adolphina A.
AU - Peprah, Nana Y.
AU - Kenu, Ernest
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Ghana Medical Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Background: We evaluated the pneumonia surveillance system in Tema Metropolis to determine whether it is meeting its objectives and to assess its attributes. Design: Descriptive primary and secondary data analysis Data Source: We interviewed health staff on the system's operation and resources. We also extracted 2012-2016 surveillance dataset for under-five pneumonia cases and deaths from the District Health Information Management System for review. Participants: Health staff Intervention: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated guidelines for evaluating surveillance systems was used to assess system attributes. Main outcome measure: State of the pneumonia surveillance system in Tema Results: A suspected case was defined as fast breathing in any child < 5 years old. The case definition was easy to apply, even at the community level. From 2012 to 2016, a total of 3,337 cases and 54 deaths (case fatality rate 1.6%) was recorded from 13 (23.6%) of 55 health facilities. Two epidemics were missed by the district because data were not being analysed. There were no laboratory data on antimicrobial resistance. Although reporting timeliness increased from 28.1% in 2012 to 83% in 2016, data inconsistencies existed between reporting levels. Conclusion: The surveillance system for under-five pneumonia in Tema Metropolis is simple, stable, flexible, timely, but of low sensitivity and acceptability, and only partly meeting its objectives. Major shortcomings are lack of laboratory data, non-use of data and low representativeness.
AB - Background: We evaluated the pneumonia surveillance system in Tema Metropolis to determine whether it is meeting its objectives and to assess its attributes. Design: Descriptive primary and secondary data analysis Data Source: We interviewed health staff on the system's operation and resources. We also extracted 2012-2016 surveillance dataset for under-five pneumonia cases and deaths from the District Health Information Management System for review. Participants: Health staff Intervention: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated guidelines for evaluating surveillance systems was used to assess system attributes. Main outcome measure: State of the pneumonia surveillance system in Tema Results: A suspected case was defined as fast breathing in any child < 5 years old. The case definition was easy to apply, even at the community level. From 2012 to 2016, a total of 3,337 cases and 54 deaths (case fatality rate 1.6%) was recorded from 13 (23.6%) of 55 health facilities. Two epidemics were missed by the district because data were not being analysed. There were no laboratory data on antimicrobial resistance. Although reporting timeliness increased from 28.1% in 2012 to 83% in 2016, data inconsistencies existed between reporting levels. Conclusion: The surveillance system for under-five pneumonia in Tema Metropolis is simple, stable, flexible, timely, but of low sensitivity and acceptability, and only partly meeting its objectives. Major shortcomings are lack of laboratory data, non-use of data and low representativeness.
KW - Ghana
KW - Surveillance system evaluation
KW - Tema
KW - Under-five pneumonia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094831330&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.4314/GMJ.V54I2S.3
DO - 10.4314/GMJ.V54I2S.3
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33536663
AN - SCOPUS:85094831330
SN - 0016-9560
VL - 54
SP - 11
EP - 17
JO - Ghana Medical Journal
JF - Ghana Medical Journal
IS - 2
ER -