Strategies for improving the quality of health care in maternal and child health in low- and middle-income countries: an overview of systematic reviews. Adoption of a ventilator-associated pneumonia clinical practice guideline. Evaluation of a continuing education intervention "Periodontics in General Practice". Reducing stillbirths: behavioural and nutritional interventions before and during pregnancy. Reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia rates through a staff education programme. Decreasing ventilator-associated pneumonia in a trauma ICU. Global report on preterm birth and stillbirth (3 of 7): evidence for effectiveness of interventions. An educational intervention to improve diagnosis and management of suspicious skin lesions. Oral care intervention to reduce incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in the neurologic intensive care unit. Reducing stillbirths: prevention and management of medical disorders and infections during pregnancy. Improving quality of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission services in Ukraine: a focus on provider communication skills and linkages to community-based non-governmental organizations. Improving prevention in primary care: evaluating the effectiveness of outreach facilitation. Implementation of evidence-based preventive services delivery processes in primary care: an Oklahoma Physicians Resource/Research Network (OKPRN) study.
There are many systematic reviews of continuing education programmes and educational strategies for quality improvement in health care. Most of the reviewed studies are one-off evaluations rather than impact evaluations with long-term follow-up. There are few systematic reviews of organisational, financial and regulatory interventions, and few high-quality studies. These interventions are probably as or more important than educational strategies, although they are less well evaluated. Few studies have been undertaken in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) or that address maternal and child health (MCH). Thus, the results of the available studies and reviews need to be interpreted cautiously when applied to LMIC. Interactive workshops, reminders and multifaceted interventions can improve professional practice, and they generally have moderate effects. Educational outreach visits consistently improve prescribing but have variable effects on other behaviours. Audit and feedback interventions have variable effects on professional practice, but most often these are small to moderate effects. Mass-media and patient-mediated interventions may change professional practice. Multifaceted interventions that combine several quality-improvement strategies are also effective but may not be more so than single interventions. While all of these strategies are applicable to MCH in LMIC, the applicability of the results to rural settings, in particular, may be limited. Use of these strategies could exacerbate inequalities, and this should be taken into consideration when planning implementation. Scaling up and sustainability may be difficult to achieve in LMIC contexts and need careful consideration. The use of financial interventions has not been well studied; financial incentives and disincentives may be difficult to use effectively and efficiently, although their impact on practice needs to be considered. Organisational interventions are likely to be important, given that there are often underlying organisational or system problems. Regulatory interventions have not been well evaluated, but may sometimes be both inexpensive and effective. There are no 'magic bullets' or simple solutions for ensuring the quality of health care services. Interventions should be selected or tailored to address the underlying reasons for a failure to deliver effective services. Decision-makers should select the most appropriate interventions for specific problems. This requires a governance structure that clearly assigns responsibility for quality-improvement activities, priority setting, selection and design of interventions, and evaluation. The Academic Center for Evidence-based Practice (ACE) Star Model was used to implement an evidence-based clinical practice guideline (CPG) in order to decrease ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) incidence rates and ventilator days. The goal was to interrupt person-to-person transmission of bacteria and bacterial colonization using low-cost, evidence-based strategies to prevent VAP. DISCOVERY: Two geographically proximate medical centers, inclusive of five intensive care units located in the southwestern region of the United States had significant variations in their VAP rates.
                Using the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force grading criteria, the results of 69 studies were used to establish a clinical practice guideline to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia. TRANSLATION: A clinical practice guideline was developed for the prevention of VAP and included five nursing activities: (a) head-of-bed elevation; (b) oral care; (c) ventilator tubing condensate removal; (d) hand hygiene; and (e) glove use. The effect of the CPG, inclusive of an educational intervention, was measured using an observational, prospective, quasi-experimental design. INTEGRATION: A multidisciplinary education team developed a self-learning packet, educational materials, and storyboards for the staff as dissemination strategies. Strategies also included e-mail, one-on-one teaching with clinicians, and feedback on guideline adoption and VAP rate reports.
                Observation data were collected to evaluate adoption of the CPG while caring for 106 ventilated patients. VAP rates changed at both hospitals although the change was not statistically significant. Additionally, the ICU length of stay declined at both facilities, causing cost savings.
                These results support the idea that adoption of evidence-based practices contributes to decreased VAP rates. For a successful program, ICU leaders should emphasize strategies that routinize adoption of evidence-based CPGs. Evidence exists that some dentists may be failing to perform adequate periodontal diagnostic and preventive care for their patients. Continuing education (CE) is an avenue that is frequently employed as a strategy to alter the style of practice. This paper presents an evaluation of a year-long continuing education intervention "Periodontics in General Practice", conducted among randomly selected private general dental practices in Adelaide, South Australia. The CE intervention featured a 1-day seminar, bi-monthly newsletters, individualised 3-monthly comparative feedback, and technical assistance. The study employed a longitudinal quasi-experimental design, which allowed for evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention among practices employing hygienists (n = 12) and not employing dental hygienists (n = 12), taking into account the covariates of baseline level of provision of periodontal services, the practice's level of participation in the intervention and attendance at other CE courses in periodontics over the year. A comparison group of practice (n = 12) did not participate in the intervention over the year. Patient record audits, conducted at baseline and at 12 months, provided data for the evaluation of the effect of the intervention on the recording of periodontal diagnostic, preventive and treatment items. Practices participating in the intervention showed increases in the percentage of records containing at least one periodontal diagnostic notation, and those practices employing hygienists showed an increase in the percentage of records with at least one preventive notation and one treatment item.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) The vast majority of global stillbirths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and in many settings, the majority of stillbirths occur antenatally, prior to the onset of labour. Poor nutritional status, lack of antenatal care and a number of behaviours increase women's risk of stillbirth in many resource-poor settings. Interventions to reduce these risks could reduce the resulting burden of stillbirths, but the evidence for the impact of such interventions has not yet been comprehensively evaluated.
                This second paper of a systematic review of interventions that could plausibly impact stillbirth rates covers 12 different interventions relating to behavioural and socially mediated risk factors, including exposures to harmful practices and substances, antenatal care utilisation and quality, and maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy. The search strategy reviewed indexed medical journals on PubMed and the Cochrane Library. If any eligible randomised controlled trials were identified that were published after the most recent Cochrane review, they were added to generate new meta-analyses. Interventions covered in this paper have a focus on low- and middle-income countries, both because of the large burden of stillbirths and because of the high prevalence of risk factors including maternal malnutrition and harmful environmental exposures. The reviews and studies belonging to these interventions were graded and conclusions derived about the evidence of benefit of these interventions.
                From a programmatic perspective, none of the interventions achieved clear evidence of benefit. Evidence for some socially mediated risk factors were identified, such as exposure to indoor air pollution and birth spacing, but still require the development of appropriate interventions. There is a need for additional studies on culturally appropriate behavioural interventions and clinical trials to increase smoking cessation and reduce exposure to smokeless tobacco. Balanced protein-energy supplementation was associated with reduced stillbirth rates, but larger well-designed trials are required to confirm findings. Peri-conceptional folic acid supplementation significantly reduces neural tube defects, yet no significant associated reductions in stillbirth rates have been documented. Evidence for other nutritional interventions including multiple micronutrient and Vitamin A supplementation is weak, suggesting the need for further research to assess potential of nutritional interventions to reduce stillbirths.
                Antenatal care is widely used in low- and middle-income countries, and provides a natural facility-based contact through which to provide or educate about many of the interventions we reviewed. The impact of broader socially mediated behaviors, such as fertility decision-making, access to antenatal care, and maternal diet and exposures like tobacco and indoor air pollution during pregnancy, are poorly understood, and further research and appropriate interventions are needed to test the association of these behaviours with stillbirth outcomes. For most nutritional interventions, larger randomised controlled trials are needed which report stillbirths disaggregated from composite perinatal mortality. Many antepartum stillbirths are potentially preventable in low- and middle-income countries, particularly through dietary and environmental improvement, and through improving the quality of antenatal care - particularly including diagnosis and management of high-risk pregnancies - that pregnant women receive. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection in patients on mechanical ventilation and results in increases in mortality, prolonged hospitalization and costs. Preventive measures for VAP are well-documented and evidence-based, yet remain poorly implemented in most intensive care units. We undertook an observational pre and post-intervention study to assess whether an educational programme focusing on preventive practices for VAP could reduce the incidence. Six hundred and seventy-seven adult patients, mechanically ventilated for >48 h were included in the study population. An evidence-based guideline for preventive practices at the bedside was developed and disseminated to the intensive care unit staff. VAP incidence rates before and after implementation of the educational programme were compared. VAP infection rates reduced by 51%, from a mean of 13.2+/-1.2 in the pre-intervention period to 6.5+/-1.5/1000 device days in the post-intervention period (mean difference 6.7; 95% CI: 2.9-10.4, P =0.02). A multidisciplinary educational programme geared towards intensive care unit staff can successfully reduce the incidence rates of VAP. Further studies will be needed to assess the impact on broader outcome measures such as costs or mortality. The incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia ranges from 10 to 25%, with mortality of 10 to 40%. It prolongs hospital stay and drives up hospital costs. Our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates were hovering at the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) 90th percentile (22.3-32.7 infections per 1,000 ventilator days from January 2002 through October 2002) necessitating a performance improvement initiative designed to decrease the incidence of VAP.
                A ventilator bundle that incorporates the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Guidelines for Prevention of Nosocomial Pneumonia was instituted in June of 2002. In October 2002, an intervention that audited compliance with the ventilator bundle and provided real-time feedback to ICU staff was started. VAP rates were followed using NNIS criteria. Costs were evaluated using hospital TSI data.
                VAP did not decrease with institution of the ventilator bundle alone. However, VAP did significantly decrease when the compliance with the ventilator bundle was audited daily and weekly feedback was provided to the caregivers. From November 2002 through June 2003 VAP stayed between 0 and 12.8 per 1,000 ventilator days. The average cost of a VAP was 50,000 dollars.
                Prevention of VAP requires a concerted effort on the part of hospital administration, physicians, and ICU personnel. The program must be evidence-based, maintained, and accepted by ICU personnel. Continued education and feedback are crucial to maintaining a low VAP rate. Interventions directed toward mothers before and during pregnancy and childbirth may help reduce preterm births and stillbirths. Survival of preterm newborns may also be improved with interventions given during these times or soon after birth. This comprehensive review assesses existing interventions for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
                Approximately 2,000 intervention studies were systematically evaluated through December 31, 2008. They addressed preterm birth or low birth weight; stillbirth or perinatal mortality; and management of preterm newborns. Out of 82 identified interventions, 49 were relevant to LMICs and had reasonable amounts of evidence, and therefore selected for in-depth reviews. Each was classified and assessed by the quality of available evidence and its potential to treat or prevent preterm birth and stillbirth. Impacts on other maternal, fetal, newborn or child health outcomes were also considered. Assessments were based on an adaptation of the Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation criteria.
                Most interventions require additional research to improve the quality of evidence. Others had little evidence of benefit and should be discontinued. The following are supported by moderate- to high-quality evidence and strongly recommended for LMICs: Two interventions prevent preterm births--smoking cessation and progesterone. Eight interventions prevent stillbirths--balanced protein energy supplementation, screening and treatment of syphilis, intermittant presumptive treatment for malaria during pregnancy, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, birth preparedness, emergency obstetric care, cesarean section for breech presentation, and elective induction for post-term delivery. Eleven interventions improve survival of preterm newborns--prophylactic steroids in preterm labor, antibiotics for PROM, vitamin K supplementation at delivery, case management of neonatal sepsis and pneumonia, delayed cord clamping, room air (vs. 100% oxygen) for resuscitation, hospital-based kangaroo mother care, early breastfeeding, thermal care, and surfactant therapy and application of continued distending pressure to the lungs for respiratory distress syndrome
                The research paradigm for discovery science and intervention development must be balanced to address prevention as well as improve morbidity and mortality in all settings. This review also reveals significant gaps in current knowledge of interventions spanning the continuum of maternal and fetal outcomes, and the critical need to generate further high-quality evidence for promising interventions. Family physicians have an important clinical role in assessment and management of suspicious skin lesions. As a result of a previous needs assessment study, an educational intervention based on audit and feedback with opportunity for reflection on practice was introduced to 46 family physicians randomly allocated to either an intervention (23) or control group (23). As an educational tool, audit allows doctors to systematically review their practice and establish the quality of care they provide. When combined with feedback and comparison of clinical performance with peers or standards, it has been shown to increase learning and change behavior.
                Data based on their own patients, on the correlation between clinical and histologic diagnosis, and excisions of skin lesions were collated and reported to the intervention group.
                Despite randomization of the doctors, the patient population of doctors in the intervention and control groups were significantly different in key characteristics, including the types of skin lesions treated. The intervention group of doctors showed improved performance in providing clinical information on pathology requests and in adequate surgical excision of skin lesions. Diagnostic performance did not improve significantly, but physicians' certainty of diagnosis did.
                This study design has highlighted the difficulty in balancing the use of evidence-based educational strategies in an equivalent setting to normal practice with evaluation of performance using measures that include characteristics of practitioners' patients that cannot be controlled. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a preventable secondary consequence of intubation and mechanical ventilation. VAP is pneumonia that develops in an intubated patient after 48 hours or more of mechanical ventilator support. Mechanically ventilated patients in neurologic and other intensive care units (ICUs) are at an increased risk of VAP due to factors such as decreased level of consciousness; dry, open mouth; and microaspiration of secretions. VAP can be prevented by initiating interventions from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement's VAP bundle, including (a) elevating the head of the bed of ventilated patients to 30 degrees, (b) preventing venous thromboembolism through use of sequential compression devices or anticoagulation, (c) administering gastric acid histamine2 blockers, (d) practicing good hand hygiene, (e) initiating early mobilization, and (f) performing daily sedation interruption at 10 am to evaluate neurologic status. The one intervention not included in the IHI bundle is oral hygiene. The purpose of this project is to support the premise that oral care, including timed toothbrushing, combined with the VAP bundle can mitigate and prevent the occurrence of VAP. Our project specifically addressed timed oral care of mechanically ventilated patients on a 24-bed stroke, neurologic, and medical ICU. Patients were randomized into a control group that performed usual oral care or an intervention group that brushed teeth every 8 hours. The results were immediate and startling, as the VAP rate dropped to zero within a week of beginning the every-8-hours toothbrushing regimen in the intervention group. The study was so successful that the control group was dropped after 6 months, and all intubated patients' teeth were brushed every 8 hours, maintaining the zero rate until the end of the study. An estimated two-thirds of the world's 3.2 million stillbirths occur antenatally, prior to labour, and are often overlooked in policy and programs. Poorly recognised, untreated or inadequately treated maternal infections such as syphilis and malaria, and maternal conditions including hypertensive disorders, are known risk factors for stillbirth.
                We undertook a systematic review of the evidence for 16 antenatal interventions with the potential to prevent stillbirths. We searched a range of sources including PubMed and the Cochrane Library. For interventions with prior Cochrane reviews, we conducted additional meta-analyses including eligible newer randomised controlled trials following the Cochrane protocol. We focused on interventions deliverable at the community level in low-/middle-income countries, where the burden of stillbirths is greatest.
                Few of the studies we included reported stillbirth as an outcome; most that did were underpowered to assess this outcome. While Cochrane reviews or meta-analyses were available for many interventions, few focused on stillbirth or perinatal mortality as outcomes, and evidence was frequently conflicting. Several interventions showed clear evidence of impact on stillbirths, including heparin therapy for certain maternal indications; syphilis screening and treatment; and insecticide-treated bed nets for prevention of malaria. Other interventions, such as management of obstetric intrahepatic cholestasis, maternal anti-helminthic treatment, and intermittent preventive treatment of malaria, showed promising impact on stillbirth rates but require confirmatory studies. Several interventions reduced known risk factors for stillbirth (e.g., anti-hypertensive drugs for chronic hypertension), yet failed to show statistically significant impact on stillbirth or perinatal mortality rates. Periodontal disease emerged as a clear risk factor for stillbirth but no interventions have reduced stillbirth rates.
                Evidence for some newly recognised risk factors for stillbirth, including periodontal disease, suggests the need for large, appropriately designed randomised trials to test whether intervention can minimise these risks and prevent stillbirths. Existing evidence strongly supports infection control measures, including syphilis screening and treatment and malaria prophylaxis in endemic areas, for preventing antepartum stillbirths. These interventions should be incorporated into antenatal care programs based on attributable risks and burden of disease. Ukraine has the highest rate of HIV infection in Europe, with an estimated adult prevalence of 1.6 percent. The epidemic in Ukraine remains largely driven by injection drug use, and women of reproductive age are being increasingly affected. Prior research has highlighted the need to improve the quality of services for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and to address other issues related to HIV counseling, testing, and care, especially in the context of antenatal and obstetric services.
                From 2004 to 2007, PATH led a collaborative effort to improve the quality of PMTCT services in Ukraine. Initial assessments included focus groups with Ukrainian women and review of existing educational materials. Interventions focused on training providers to improve skills in communication and referral to community-based support; they also addressed the underlying issue of stigma.
                Observational data demonstrated that providers who participated in the training intervention delivered PMTCT counseling of a consistently higher quality than did providers who did not undergo training. Exit interviews with clients confirmed these findings.
                An intervention focused on strengthening voluntary counseling and testing for HIV, forging partnerships with local organizations, and undoing HIV-related stigma can help to improve access to and quality of PMTCT services in antenatal care clinics. Out reach facilitation is designed to promote uptake of evidence-based guidelines. There is evidence indicating that outreach facilitation can be effective in improving implementation of preventive care in GPs' offices. In this trial, we test a modified version of an outreach facilitation intervention.
                To evaluate whether a comprehensive preventive intervention program using outreach facilitators improves preventive care delivery.
                Match-paired, cluster-randomized controlled trial.
                Fee-for-service primary care practices in Eastern Ontario, Canada, at a time of physician shortage.
                Volunteer sample of 54 primary care practices.
                Mean difference between trial arms in practices' delivery of preventive manoeuvres, measured by preventive performance indices estimated from chart reviews and patient survey data.
                No difference was detected between the trial's arms for the primary outcome's overall prevention index [2.0%; 95% confidence interval (CI) -3.2 to 7.3; P = 0.44]. A small significant difference between the arms was detected for the secondary outcome's overall prevention index (2.8%; 95% CI 0.7-4.8; P = 0.01).
                In contrast to similar facilitation trials, this outreach facilitation program did not produce improvements in the delivery of preventive care. This lack of effect may be due to differences in the intervention and context, or the practice's limited capacity to change. Our intervention simultaneously facilitated a high number of manoeuvres, blinded facilitators and physicians to the targeted tests and had a relatively short intervention period and large number of practices assigned per facilitator. Changes in the primary care service model in Ontario at the time of the trial could have also washed out the intervention effect. Previous research has found that wellness visits, recall and reminder systems, and standing orders are associated with higher rates of delivery of preventive services in primary care practices. However, there is little information about how to help practices implement these processes.
                A 6-month randomized, controlled trial comparing a multicomponent quality improvement intervention to feedback and benchmarking. One clinician/nurse team from each of 24 practices was randomly assigned to one of 2 study arms. Intervention practices received performance feedback, peer-to-peer education (academic detailing), a practice facilitator, and computer (information technology) support. Implementation of the 3 targeted processes was determined by a blinded 3-clinician panel that reviewed transcribed clinician interviews before and after intervention using performance definitions. Rates of delivery of selected preventive services were determined by chart audit.
                Intervention practices implemented more of the processes than control practices overall (P = .003), for adults (P = .05), and for children (P = .04). They were also more likely to implement at least one of the processes for children (P = .04) and to implement standing orders for either children or adults (P = .02). Mammography rates increased significantly. Neither clinician and practice characteristics nor clinician readiness to change predicted implementation.
                A multicomponent implementation strategy consisting of feedback, benchmarking, academic detailing, facilitation, and IT support increased implementation of evidence-based processes for delivering preventive services to a greater extent than performance feedback and benchmarking alone.
The low to very low quality of the evidence of studies included in this review provides insufficient evidence to determine with certainty which interventions are most effective in changing professional behaviour and in what contexts. However, interventions that may be worth further study are educational interventions involving more than one active element and that are repeatedly administered over time, and interventions employing specialised personnel, who are focused on an aspect of care that is supported by evidence e.g. dentists/dental auxiliaries performing oral care for VAP prevention.