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  4. Barriers and facilitators to implementation of point-of-care lung ultrasonography in a tertiary centre in Benin: a qualitative study among general physicians and pneumologists
 
research article

Barriers and facilitators to implementation of point-of-care lung ultrasonography in a tertiary centre in Benin: a qualitative study among general physicians and pneumologists

Suttels, Veronique
•
Da Costa, Sofia Guedes
•
Garcia, Elena
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June 1, 2023
Bmj Open

ObjectivesOwing to its ease-of-use and excellent diagnostic performance for the assessment of respiratory symptoms, point-of-care lung ultrasound (POC-LUS) has emerged as an attractive skill in resource-low settings, where limited access to specialist care and inconsistent radiology services erode health equity.To narrow down the research to practice gap, this study aims to gain in-depth insights in the perceptions on POC-LUS and computer-assisted POC-LUS for the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in a low-income and middle-income country (LMIC) of sub-Saharan Africa. Design and settingQualitative study using face-to-face semi-structured interviews with three pneumologists and five general physicians in a tertiary centre for pneumology and tuberculosis in Benin, West Africa. The center hosts a prospective cohort study on the diagnostic performance of POC-LUS for LRTI. In this context, all participants started a POC-LUS training programme 6 months before the current study. Transcripts were coded by the interviewer, checked for intercoder reliability by an independent psychologist, compared and thematically summarised according to grounded theory methods. ResultsVarious barriers- and facilitators+ to POC-LUS implementation were identified related to four principal categories: (1) hospital setting (eg, lack of resources for device renewal or maintenance-, need for POC tests+), (2) physician's perceptions (eg, lack of opportunity to practice-, willingness to appropriate the technique+), (3) tool characteristics (eg, unclear lifespan-, expedited diagnosis+) and (4) patient's experience (no analogous image to keep-, reduction in costs+). Furthermore, all interviewees had positive attitudes towards computer-assisted POC-LUS. ConclusionsThere is a clear need for POC affordable lung imaging techniques in LMIC and physicians are willing to implement POC-LUS to optimise the diagnostic approach of LRTI with an affordable tool. Successful integration of POC-LUS into clinical routine will require adequate responses to local challenges related to the lack of available maintenance resources and limited opportunity to supervised practice for physicians.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070765
Web of Science ID

WOS:001034602300047

Author(s)
Suttels, Veronique
Da Costa, Sofia Guedes
Garcia, Elena
Brahier, Thomas
Hartley, Mary-Anne  
Agodokpessi, Gildas
Wachinou, Prudence
Fasseur, Fabienne
Boillat-Blanco, Noemie
Date Issued

2023-06-01

Publisher

BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP

Published in
Bmj Open
Volume

13

Issue

6

Subjects

Medicine, General & Internal

•

General & Internal Medicine

•

ultrasound

•

tropical medicine

•

qualitative research

•

computer-aided diagnosis

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
MLO  
Available on Infoscience
August 28, 2023
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/200215
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