Cardiopulmonary resuscitation capacity in referral hospitals in Nigeria: Understanding the global health disparity in resuscitation medicine
Document Type
Article
Department
Anaesthesia
Abstract
Introduction: Little is known about the state of resuscitation services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. We sought to assess the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) care in referral hospitals across Nigeria to better inform capacity-building initiatives.
Methods: We designed a survey to evaluate infrastructure, equipment, personnel, training, and clinical management, as no standardized instrument for assessing resuscitation in LMICs was available. We included referral teaching hospitals with a functioning intensive care unit (ICU) and a department of anaesthesiology. We pilot-tested our tool at four hospitals in Nigeria and recruited participants electronically via the Nigerian Society of Anaesthetists directory.
Results: Our survey included 17 hospitals (82% public, 12% private, 6% public-private partnership), although some questions include only a subset of these. We found that 20% (3 out of 15) of hospitals had a cardiac arrest response team system, 21% (3/14) documented CPR events, and 21% (3/14) reviewed such events for education and quality improvement. Most basic supplies were sufficient in the ICU (100% [15/15] availability of defibrillators, 94% [16/17] of adrenaline) but were less available in other departments. While 67% [10/15] of hospitals had a resuscitation training program, only 27% [4/15] had at least half their physicians trained in basic life support.
Conclusion: In this first large-scale assessment of resuscitation care in Nigeria, we found progress in training centre development and supply availability, but a paucity of cardiac arrest response team systems. Our data indicate a need for improved capacity development, especially in documentation and continuous quality improvement, both of which are low-cost solutions.
Publication (Name of Journal)
Journal of the National Medical Association
Recommended Citation
Zha, Y.,
Ariyo, M.,
Olaniran, O.,
Ariyo, P.,
Lyon, C.,
Kalu, Q.,
Latif, A.,
Edmond, B.,
Sampson, J. B.
(2018). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation capacity in referral hospitals in Nigeria: Understanding the global health disparity in resuscitation medicine. Journal of the National Medical Association, 110(4), 407-413.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_anaesth/477
Comments
This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.