lancet-header

Preprints with The Lancet is part of SSRN´s First Look, a place where journals identify content of interest prior to publication. Authors have opted in at submission to The Lancet family of journals to post their preprints on Preprints with The Lancet. The usual SSRN checks and a Lancet-specific check for appropriateness and transparency have been applied. Preprints available here are not Lancet publications or necessarily under review with a Lancet journal. These preprints are early stage research papers that have not been peer-reviewed. The findings should not be used for clinical or public health decision making and should not be presented to a lay audience without highlighting that they are preliminary and have not been peer-reviewed. For more information on this collaboration, see the comments published in The Lancet about the trial period, and our decision to make this a permanent offering, or visit The Lancet´s FAQ page, and for any feedback please contact preprints@lancet.com.

Now published in The Lancet

Performance of Four Respiratory Rate Counters to Support Community Health Workers to Detect the Symptoms of Pneumonia in Children in Low Resource Settings: A Prospective, Multi-Centre, Hospital-Based, Single-Blinded, Comparative Trial

29 Pages Posted: 28 Jan 2019

See all articles by Kevin Baker

Kevin Baker

Malaria Consortium; Karolinska Institutet

Tobias Alfvén

Karolinska Institutet

Akasiima Mucunguzi

Malaria Consortium - Uganda

Alexandra Wharton-Smith

Malaria Consortium - Cambodia

Emily Dantzer

Malaria Consortium - Cambodia

Tedila Habte

Malaria Consortium - Ethiopia

Lena Matata

Malaria Consortium - South Sudan

Diana Nanyumba

Malaria Consortium - Uganda

Morris Okwir

Malaria Consortium - South Sudan

Monica Posada

Malaria Consortium - Cambodia

Anteneh Sebsibe

Malaria Consortium - Ethiopia

Jill Nicholson

Malaria Consortium

Madeleine Marasciulo

Malaria Consortium - Raleigh

Rasa Izadnegahdar

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Max Petzold

University of Gothenburg

Karin Källander

Malaria Consortium

More...

Abstract

Background: Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in children under-five globally. The current diagnostic criteria for pneumonia are based on increased respiratory rate (RR) or chest in-drawing in children with cough and/or difficulty breathing. Counting RR is difficult for community health workers (CHWs). Current RR counting devices are frequently inadequate or unavailable. This study analysed the performance of improved RR timers for detection of pneumonia symptoms in low-resource settings.

Methods: Four RR timers were evaluated on 454 children over three months by CHWs in hospital settings in Cambodia, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda. The devices were the Mark Two ARI timer (MK2 ARI), counting beads with ARI timer, Rrate Android phone and the Respirometer feature phone applications. Performance was evaluated for agreement with an automated RR reference standard (Masimo Root patient monitoring and connectivity platform with ISA CO2 capnography).

Findings: While most CHWs managed to achieve a RR count with the four devices, the agreement was low for all; the mean difference of RR measurements from the reference standard for the four devices ranged from 0∙5 (95% C.I. -2∙2 to 1∙2) for the respirometer to 5∙5 (95% C.I. 3∙2 to 7∙8) for Rrate. Performance was consistently lower for young infants (0 to <2 months) than for older children (2 to ≤59 months). Agreement of RR classification into fast and normal breathing was moderate across all four devices, with Cohen's Kappa statistics ranging from 0∙41 (SE 0∙04) to 0∙49 (SE 0∙05).

Interpretation: None of the four devices evaluated performed well based on agreement with the reference standard. The ARI timer currently recommended for use by CHWs should only be replaced by more expensive, equally performing, automated RR devices when aspects such as usability and duration of the device significantly improve the patient-provider experience.

Trial Registration Number: This study is registered with the Australia New Zealand Trials Registry, ANZCTR [ACTRN12615000348550].

Funding Statement: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1054367].

Declaration of Interests: The authors state: "None declared."

Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by ethical review boards in each study country at national or regional level - in Ethiopia from the Southern Nations Nationalities Peoples' Region Health Bureau Health Research Review Committee (Ref: 6-19/10342); in Uganda, from the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) (ref. HS 1585); in South Sudan from the Research and Ethics Committee at the Government of South Sudan, Ministry of Health (Dated 23/05/2014); and in Cambodia from the National Ethics Committee for Health Research (Ref: 0146 NECHR), Ministry of Health, and by the Regional Ethics Committee in Stockholm, Sweden (Ref. 2017/4:10).

Keywords: childhood pneumonia; low-income country; diagnostic tools; respiratory rate counting; health worker performance

Suggested Citation

Baker, Kevin and Alfvén, Tobias and Mucunguzi, Akasiima and Wharton-Smith, Alexandra and Dantzer, Emily and Habte, Tedila and Matata, Lena and Nanyumba, Diana and Okwir, Morris and Posada, Monica and Sebsibe, Anteneh and Nicholson, Jill and Marasciulo, Madeleine and Izadnegahdar, Rasa and Petzold, Max and Källander, Karin, Performance of Four Respiratory Rate Counters to Support Community Health Workers to Detect the Symptoms of Pneumonia in Children in Low Resource Settings: A Prospective, Multi-Centre, Hospital-Based, Single-Blinded, Comparative Trial (January 24, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3323109 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3323109

Kevin Baker (Contact Author)

Malaria Consortium ( email )

The Green House
244-254 Cambridge Heath Road
London
United Kingdom

Karolinska Institutet ( email )

Granits väg 4
Section for Integrative Physiology
Solna, Stockholm 17171
Sweden

Tobias Alfvén

Karolinska Institutet

Granits väg 4
Section for Integrative Physiology
Solna, Stockholm 17171
Sweden

Akasiima Mucunguzi

Malaria Consortium - Uganda

Kampala
Uganda

Alexandra Wharton-Smith

Malaria Consortium - Cambodia

Phnom Penh
Cambodia

Emily Dantzer

Malaria Consortium - Cambodia

Phnom Penh
Cambodia

Tedila Habte

Malaria Consortium - Ethiopia

Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

Lena Matata

Malaria Consortium - South Sudan

Juba
South Sudan

Diana Nanyumba

Malaria Consortium - Uganda

Kampala
Uganda

Morris Okwir

Malaria Consortium - South Sudan

Juba
South Sudan

Monica Posada

Malaria Consortium - Cambodia

Phnom Penh
Cambodia

Anteneh Sebsibe

Malaria Consortium - Ethiopia

Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

Jill Nicholson

Malaria Consortium

The Green House
244-254 Cambridge Heath Road
London
United Kingdom

Madeleine Marasciulo

Malaria Consortium - Raleigh

Raleigh, NC
United States

Rasa Izadnegahdar

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

P.O. Box 23350
Seattle, WA 98102
United States

Max Petzold

University of Gothenburg

Viktoriagatan 30
Göteborg, 405 30
Sweden

Karin Källander

Malaria Consortium

The Green House
244-254 Cambridge Heath Road
London
United Kingdom

Click here to go to TheLancet.com

Paper statistics

Downloads
65
Abstract Views
542
PlumX Metrics