Patient Pathways and Diagnostic Value in Sierra Leone
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3625533 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fatmata Bah (0000-0002-1791-3143, corresponding author), Eva Vernooij (0000-0003-4745-116X, University of Edinburgh), A Street (0000-0001-7874-0234, Center for Global Development) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 1-11 |
| Publication date | 2021-08-18 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Medicine Anthropology Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2405-691X • E-ISSN: 2405-691X |
| Publisher | Edinburgh University Library (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.17157/mat.8.2.5212 |
| OpenAlex | W3193443540 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 2 |
What is the value of a diagnostic test? Most obviously for primary healthcare settings, laboratory tests can inform clinical decision making about treatment and patient management. Their predominant value in this context is therefore medical. But what about when that healthcare setting is chronically under-resourced, healthcare workers (including laboratory workers) are underpaid, and government supply chains fail to deliver basic laboratory supplies? In this contribution to the Field Notes section, we describe a Community Health Centre (CHC) in Sierra Leone where such conditions have given rise to a quasi-private laboratory service within the public health facility. Through detailed ethnographic description of patients' diagnostic pathways through the facility, we examine and assess the impact on patient care when the medical and economic value of diagnostic tests diverge
Business · Diagnostic test · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Geography · Health care · Health facility · Health services · Medical emergency · Public health · Sierra leone · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Computer Science · Hepatitis B Virus Studies · Medicine · Nursing · Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research · Pediatrics
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2023 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |