Point-Of-Care Ultra-Sound (Pocus) for suspected surgical abdominal conditions in rural India–a mixed-method health needs assessment

Bibliographic Data

ID19592287
AuthorsOwen Thomas (0000-0001-5199-4269, University of Leeds, corresponding author), Noel Aruparayil (0000-0002-2898-772X, University of Leeds, corresponding author), Gnanaraj Jesudian (0000-0002-7444-5892, corresponding author), George Mathew (0000-0002-6161-4327, corresponding author), Kavikumar Nagarajan (corresponding author), Beth Shinkins, Bethany Shinkins (0000-0001-5350-1018, University of Leeds, corresponding author), David Jayne (0000-0002-1712-0637, University of Leeds, corresponding author)
EditorsBethany Hedt-Gauthier (0000-0002-9689-5413)
Year2023
Volume3
Issue1
Pagese0001233
Publication date2023-01-06
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePLOS Global Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2767-3375 • E-ISSN: 2767-3375
PublisherPublic Library of Science (PLoS) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1371/journal.pgph.0001233
PMID36962842
OpenAlexW4313644491
LanguageEN
References cited16

Introduction Evidence has shown a trend towards rising mortality from surgical abdominal conditions with increasing distance from hospitals in Eastern India. It has been claimed that imaging modalities such as portable ultrasound are ideal for use in rural areas of developing countries for diagnosis and management of a variety of acute abdominal conditions. This mixed-methods study aimed to explore the need for increased access to POCUS in rural, hard-to-reach populations within India, and to identify barriers that may exist to increasing this access. Methods This mixed-methods study utilized a health needs assessment framework. Quantitative data was extracted from medical records within two outreach camp organisations supporting hard-to-reach populations in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand to provide contextual background statistics. Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews taken from employees of each outreach camp. A framework analysis was employed to analyse the qualitative data. Both datasets were analysed in parallel. Results Twelve semi-structured interviews were undertaken, and 3 months of medical records were reviewed. Themes that presented themselves from the data included the use of camps for case-finding of conditions amenable to routine surgery, a need for POCUS to help with this diagnostic process, a perceived high disease burden from renal calculi, and complex cultural and legislative barriers to POCUS specific to this setting. Discussion POCUS was considered a useful tool in expanding access to surgery for these settings and finding ways of overcoming cultural and legislative barriers to its use should be of high priority. POCUS should be highly portable, robust, easily repairable, and battery operated. For telemedicine to be fully utilised, signal quality will have to be proven to be reliable

Family medicine · Geography · Health care · Legislature · Medical emergency · Modalities · Outreach · Flow Measurement and Analysis · Medicine · Phonocardiography and Auscultation Techniques · Ultrasound in Clinical Applications

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