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Background The COVID-19 pandemic and country measures to control it can lead to negative indirect health effects. Understanding these indirect health effects is important in informing strategies to mitigate against them. This paper presents an analysis of the indirect health effects of the pandemic in Kenya. Methods We employed a mixed-methods approach, combining the analysis of secondary quantitative data obtained from the Kenya Health Information System database (from January 2019 to November 2020) and a qualitative inquiry involving key informant interviews (n = 12) and document reviews. Quantitative data were analysed using an interrupted time series analysis (using March 2020 as the intervention period). Thematic analysis approach was employed to analyse qualitative data. Results Quantitative findings show mixed findings, with statistically significant reduction in inpatient utilization, and increase in the number of sexual violence cases per OPD visit that could be attributed to COVID-19 and its mitigation measures. Key informants reported that while financing of essential health services and domestic supply chains were not affected, international supply chains, health workforce, health infrastructure, service provision, and patient access were disrupted. However, the negative effects were thought to be transient, with mitigation measures leading to a bounce back. Conclusion Finding from this study provide some insights into the effects of the pandemic and its mitigation measures in Kenya. The analysis emphasizes the value of strategies to minimize these undesired effects, and the critical role that routine health system data can play in monitoring continuity of service delivery.

We have worked to develop a Clinical Information Network (CIN) in Kenya as an early form of learning health systems (LHS) focused on paediatric and neonatal care that now spans 22 hospitals. CIN’s aim was to examine important outcomes of hospitalisation at scale, identify and ultimately solve practical problems of service delivery, drive improvements in quality and test interventions. By including multiple routine settings in research, we aimed to promote generalisability of findings and demonstrate potential efficiencies derived from LHS. We illustrate the nature and range of research CIN has supported over the past 7 years as a form of LHS. Clinically, this has largely focused on common, serious paediatric illnesses such as pneumonia, malaria and diarrhoea with dehydration with recent extensions to neonatal illnesses. CIN also enables examination of the quality of care, for example that provided to children with severe malnutrition and the challenges encountered in routine settings in adopting simple technologies (pulse oximetry) and more advanced diagnostics (eg, Xpert MTB/RIF). Although regular feedback to hospitals has been associated with some improvements in quality data continue to highlight system challenges that undermine provision of basic, quality care (eg, poor access to blood glucose testing and routine microbiology). These challenges include those associated with increased mortality risk (eg, delays in blood transfusion). Using the same data the CIN platform has enabled conduct of randomised trials and supports malaria vaccine and most recently COVID-19 surveillance. Employing LHS principles has meant engaging front-line workers, clinical managers and national stakeholders throughout. Our experience suggests LHS can be developed in low and middle-income countries that efficiently enable contextually appropriate research and contribute to strengthening of health services and research systems.

BackgroundWe explored who actually provides most admission care in hospitals offering supervised experiential training to graduating clinicians in a high mortality setting where practices deviate from guideline recommendations.MethodsWe used a large observational data set from 13 Kenyan county hospitals from November 2015 through November 2018 where patients were linked to admitting clinicians. We explored guideline adherence after creating a cumulative correctness of Paediatric Admission Quality of Care (cPAQC) score on a 5-point scale (0–4) in which points represent correct, sequential progress in providing care perfectly adherent to guidelines comprising admission assessment, diagnosis and treatment. At the point where guideline adherence declined the most we dichotomised the cPAQC score and used multilevel logistic regression models to explore whether clinician and patient-level factors influence adherence.ResultsThere were 1489 clinicians who could be linked to 53 003 patients over a period of 3 years. Patients were rarely admitted by fully qualified clinicians and predominantly by preregistration medical officer interns (MOI, 46%) and diploma level clinical officer interns (COI, 41%) with a median of 28 MOI (range 11–68) and 52 COI (range 5–160) offering care per study hospital. The cPAQC scores suggest that perfect guideline adherence is found in ≤12% of children with malaria, pneumonia or diarrhoea with dehydration. MOIs were more adherent to guidelines than COI (adjusted OR 1.19 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.34)) but multimorbidity was significantly associated with lower guideline adherence.ConclusionOver 85% of admissions to hospitals in high mortality settings that offer experiential training in Kenya are conducted by preregistration clinicians. Clinical assessment is good but classifying severity of illness in accordance with guideline recommendations is a challenge. Adherence by MOI with 6 years’ training is better than COI with 3 years’ training, performance does not seem to improve during their 3 months of paediatric rotations.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) disease continues to be responsible for a high global burden with an estimated 10 million people falling ill each year and an estimated 1.45 million deaths. Widely carried out analyses to utilize routine data coming from this disease, and well-established in literature, have paid attention to time-to-event with sputum smear results being considered only at baseline or even ignored. Also, logistic regression models have been used to demonstrate importance of sputum smear results in patient outcomes. A feature presented by this disease, however, is that each individual patient is usually followed over a period of time with sputum smear results being documented at different points of the treatment curve. This provides both repeated measures and survival times, which may require a joint modeling approach. This study aimed to investigate the association between sputum smear results and the risk of experiencing unfavorable outcome among TB patients and dynamically predict survival probabilities.Method: A joint model for longitudinal and time-to-event data was used to analyze longitudinally measured smear test results with time to experiencing unfavorable outcome for TB patients. A generalized linear mixed-effects model was specified for the longitudinal submodel and cox proportional hazards model for the time-to-event submodel with baseline hazard approximated using penalized B-splines. The two submodels were then assumed to be related via the current value association structure. Bayesian approach was used to approximate parameter estimates using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm. The obtained joint model was used to predict the subject's future risk of survival based on sputum smear results trajectories. Data were sourced from routinely collected TB data stored at National TB Program database.Results: The average baseline age was 35 (SD: 15). Female TB patients constituted 36.42%. Patients with previous history of TB treatment constituted 6.38% (event: 15.25%; no event: 5.29%). TB/HIV co-infection was at 31.23% (event: 47.87%; no event: 29.20%). The association parameter 1.03 (CI[1.03,1.04]) was found to be positive and significantly different from zero, interpreted as follows: The estimate of the association parameter α = 1.033 denoted the log hazard ratio for a unit increase in the log odds of having smear positive results. HIV status (negative) 0.47 (CI [0.46,49]) and history of TB treatment (previously treated) (2.52 CI [2.41,2.63]), sex (female) (0.82 CI [0.78,0.84]), and body mass index (BMI) categories (severe malnutrition being reference) were shown to be statistically significant.Conclusion: Sputum smear result is important in estimating the risk to unfavorable outcome among TB patients. Men, previously treated, TB/HIV co-infected and severely malnourished TB patients are at higher risk of unfavorable outcomes.

Aim: Even though systematic reviews have examined how aspects of propensity score methods are used, none has reviewed how the challenge of missing data is addressed with these methods. This review therefore describes how missing data are addressed with propensity score methods in observational comparative effectiveness studies. Methods: Published articles on observational comparative effectiveness studies were extracted from MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. Results: Our search yielded 167 eligible articles. Majority of these studies (114; 68%) conducted complete case analysis with only 53 of them stating this in the methods. Only 16 articles reported use of multiple imputation. Conclusion: Few researchers use correct methods for handling missing data or reported missing data methodology which may lead to reporting biased findings.

Background The malaria prevalence has declined in western Kenya, resulting in the risk of neurological phenotypes in older children. This study investigates the clinical profile of pediatric malaria admissions ahead of the introduction of the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine. Methods Malaria admissions in children aged 1 month to 15 years were identified from routine, standardized, inpatient clinical surveillance data collected between 2015 and 2018 from 4 hospitals in western Kenya. Malaria phenotypes were defined based on available data. Results There were 5766 malaria admissions documented. The median age was 36 months (interquartile range, 18–60): 15% were aged between 1–11 months of age, 33% were aged 1–23 months of age, and 70% were aged 1 month to 5 years. At admission, 2340 (40.6%) children had severe malaria: 421/2208 (19.1%) had impaired consciousness, 665/2240 (29.7%) had an inability to drink or breastfeed, 317/2340 (13.6%) had experienced 2 or more convulsions, 1057/2340 (45.2%) had severe anemia, and 441/2239 (19.7%) had severe respiratory distress. Overall, 211 (3.7%) children admitted with malaria died; 163/211 (77% deaths, case fatality rate 7.0%) and 48/211 (23% deaths, case fatality rate 1.4%) met the criteria for severe malaria and nonsevere malaria at admission, respectively. The median age for fatal cases was 33 months (interquartile range, 12–72) and the case fatality rate was highest in those unconscious (44.4%). Conclusions Severe malaria in western Kenya is still predominantly seen among the younger pediatric age group and current interventions targeted for those

BackgroundTrue burden of tuberculosis (TB) in children is unknown. Hospitalised children are low-hanging fruit for TB case detection as they are within the system. We aimed to explore the process of recognition and investigation for childhood TB using a guideline-linked cascade of care.MethodsThis was an observational study of 42,107 children admitted to 13 county hospitals in Kenya from 01Nov 15-31Oct 16, and 01Nov 17-31Oct 18. We estimated those that met each step of the cascade, those with an apparent (or "Working") TB diagnosis and modelled associations with TB tests amongst guideline-eligible children.Results23,741/42,107 (56.4%) met step 1 of the cascade (≥2 signs and symptoms suggestive of TB). Step 2(further screening of history of TB contact/full respiratory exam) was documented in 14,873/23,741 (62.6%) who met Step 1. Step 3(chest x-ray or Mantoux test) was requested in 2,451/14,873 (16.5%) who met Step 2. Step 4(≥1 bacteriological test) was requested in 392/2,451 (15.9%) who met Step 3. Step 5("Working TB" diagnosis) was documented in 175/392 (44.6%) who met Step 4. Factors associated with request of TB tests in patients who met Step 1 included: i) older children [AOR 1.19(CI 1.09-1.31)]; ii) co-morbidities of HIV, malnutrition or pneumonia [AOR 3.81(CI 3.05-4.75), 2.98(CI 2.69-3.31) and 2.98(CI 2.60-3.40) respectively]; iii) sicker children, readmitted/referred [AOR 1.24(CI 1.08-1.42) and 1.15(CI 1.04-1.28) respectively]. "Working TB" diagnosis was made in 2.9%(1,202/42,107) of all admissions and 0.2%(89/42,107) were bacteriologically-confirmed.ConclusionsMore than half of all paediatric admissions had symptoms associated with TB and nearly two-thirds had more specific history documented. Only a few amongst them got TB tests requested. TB was diagnosed in 2.9% of all admissions but most were inadequately investigated. Major challenges remain in identifying and investigating TB in children in hospitals with access to Xpert MTB/RIF and a review is needed of existing guidelines.

Policymakers in Africa need robust estimates of the current and future spread of SARS-CoV-2. We used national surveillance PCR test, serological survey and mobility data to develop and fit a county-specific transmission model for Kenya up to the end of September 2020, which encompasses the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the country. We estimate that the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic peaked before the end of July 2020 in the major urban counties, with 30-50% of residents infected. Our analysis suggests, first, that the reported low COVID-19 disease burden in Kenya cannot be explained solely by limited spread of the virus, and second, that a 30-50% attack rate was not sufficient to avoid a further wave of transmission.

BackgroundMost of the deaths among neonates in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) can be prevented through universal access to basic high-quality health services including essential facility-based inpatient care. However, poor routine data undermines data-informed efforts to monitor and promote improvements in the quality of newborn care across hospitals.MethodsContinuously collected routine patients’ data from structured paper record forms for all admissions to newborn units (NBUs) from 16 purposively selected Kenyan public hospitals that are part of a clinical information network were analysed together with data from all paediatric admissions ages 0–13 years from 14 of these hospitals. Data are used to show the proportion of all admissions and deaths in the neonatal age group and examine morbidity and mortality patterns, stratified by birth weight, and their variation across hospitals.FindingsDuring the 354 hospital months study period, 90 222 patients were admitted to the 14 hospitals contributing NBU and general paediatric ward data. 46% of all the admissions were neonates (aged 0–28 days), but they accounted for 66% of the deaths in the age group 0–13 years. 41 657 inborn neonates were admitted in the NBUs across the 16 hospitals during the study period. 4266/41 657 died giving a crude mortality rate of 10.2% (95% CI 9.97% to 10.55%), with 60% of these deaths occurring on the first-day of admission. Intrapartum-related complications was the single most common diagnosis among the neonates with birth weight of 2000 g or more who died. A threefold variation in mortality across hospitals was observed for birth weight categories 1000–1499 g and 1500–1999 g.InterpretationThe high proportion of neonatal deaths in hospitals may reflect changing patterns of childhood mortality. Majority of newborns died of preventable causes (>95%). Despite availability of high-impact low-cost interventions, hospitals have high and very variable mortality proportions after stratification by birth weight.

Summary box Since devolution of healthcare services in 2013, the Kenyan public health sector has been affected by frequent short and often localised strikes.1 These were followed by a public-sector nationwide doctors’ strike lasting 100 days (from 5 December 2016 to 14 March 2017) and then the nurses’ strike lasting 150 days (from 5 June to 1 November 2017), a total of 250 strike days in a span of 11 months, referred to hereafter as the 2017 strikes. The strikes resulted from a complex chain of events briefly outlined below. A new 2010 Kenya Constitution gave every worker (with some exceptions for disciplined armed forces) the rights to join a union, engage in collective bargaining and the freedom to strike, linked to supporting rights to fair remuneration and reasonable working conditions.2 This constitution also devolved all primary and secondary health services to 47 new semiautonomous county governments. Initial plans were to progressively transfer functions over a 3-year transition period from …

Background Diarrhoea causes many deaths in children younger than 5 years and identification of risk factors for death is considered a global priority. The effectiveness of currently recommended fluid management for dehydration in routine settings has also not been examined. Methods For this observational, association study, we analysed prospective clinical data on admission, immediate treatment, and discharge of children age 1–59 months with diarrhoea and dehydration, which were routinely collected from 13 Kenyan hospitals. We analysed participants with full datasets using multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression to assess risk factors for in-hospital death and effect of correct rehydration on early mortality (within 2 days). Findings Between Oct 1, 2013, and Dec 1, 2016, 8562 children with diarrhoea and dehydration were admitted to hospital and eligible for inclusion in this analysis. Overall mortality was 9% (759 of 8562 participants) and case fatality was directly correlated with severity. Most children (7184 [84%] of 8562) with diarrhoea and dehydration had at least one additional diagnosis (comorbidity). Age of 12 months or younger (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1·71, 95% CI 1·42–2·06), female sex (1·41, 1·19–1·66), diarrhoea duration of more than 14 days (2·10, 1·42–3·12), abnormal respiratory signs (3·62, 2·95–4·44), abnormal circulatory signs (2·29, 1·89–2·77), pallor (2·15, 1·76–2·62), use of intravenous fluid (proxy for severity; 1·68, 1·41–2·00), and abnormal neurological signs (3·07, 2·54–3·70) were independently associated with inhospital mortality across hospitals. Signs of dehydration alone were not associated with in-hospital deaths (AOR 1·08, 0·87–1·35). Correct fluid prescription significantly reduced the risk of early mortality (within 2 days) in all subgroups: abnormal respiratory signs (AOR 1·23, 0·68–2·24), abnormal circulatory signs (0·95, 0·53–1·73), pallor (1·70, 0·95–3·02), dehydration signs only (1·50, 0·79–2·88), and abnormal neurological signs (0·86, 0·51–1·48). Interpretation Children at risk of in-hospital death are those with complex presentations rather than uncomplicated dehydration, and the prescription of recommended rehydration guidelines reduces risk of death. Strategies to optimise the delivery of recommended guidance should be accompanied by studies on the management of dehydration in children with comorbidities, the vulnerability of young girls, and the delivery of immediate care.

© 2018 Journal of Global Health. Background Measurement and correct interpretation of vital signs is part of routine clinical care. Repeated measurement enhances early recognition of deterioration, may help prevent morbidity and mortality and is a standard of care in most countries. Objective To examine documentation of vital signs by clinicians for admissions to paediatric wards in Kenyan hospitals, to describe monitoring frequency by nurses and explore factors influencing frequency. Methods Vital signs information (temperature, respiratory and pulse rate) for the first 48 hours of admission was collected from case records of children admitted with non-surgical conditions to 13 Kenyan county hospitals between September 2013 and April 2016. A mixed effect negative binomial regression model was used to explore whether the severity of illness (indicated by danger signs or severe diagnostic episodes) is associated with increased vital signs observation frequency. Results We examined 54 800 admission episodes with an overall mortality 6.1%. Nurse to bed ratios were very low (1:10 to 1:41 across hospitals). Admitting clinicians documented all or no vital signs in 57.0% and 8.4% cases respectively. For respiratory and pulse rates there was pronounced even end-digit preference (an indicator of incorrect information) and high frequency recording of specific values (P < 0.001) suggesting approximation. Monitoring frequency was explored in 41 738 children. Those with inpatient stays =48 hours were expected to have a vital signs count of 18, hospitals varied but most did not achieve this benchmark (median 9, range 2-30). There were clinically small but significant associations between vital signs count and presence of multiple severe illnesses or presence of severe pallor (adjusted relative risk ratio = 1.04, P < 0.01, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.02-1.06 and 1.05, P = 0.02, 95% CI = 1.01-1.09, respectively). Conclusions Data suggest accurate admission measures are sometimes missing especially for pulse and respiratory rates, possibly linked to manual measurement. Monitoring frequency is often low in the high risk population studied probably indicating how quality of nursing care is undermined by considerable human resource shortages.

Summary Background Management of pneumonia in many low-income and middle-income countries is based on WHO guidelines that classify children according to clinical signs that define thresholds of risk. We aimed to establish whether some children categorised as eligible for outpatient treatment might have a risk of death warranting their treatment in hospital. Methods We did a retrospective cohort study of children aged 2–59 months admitted to one of 14 hospitals in Kenya with pneumonia between March 1, 2014, and Feb 29, 2016, before revised WHO pneumonia guidelines were adopted in the country. We modelled associations with inpatient mortality using logistic regression and calculated absolute risks of mortality for presenting clinical features among children who would, as part of revised WHO pneumonia guidelines, be eligible for outpatient treatment (non-severe pneumonia). Findings We assessed 16 162 children who were admitted to hospital in this period. 832 (5%) of 16 031 children died. Among groups defined according to new WHO guidelines, 321 (3%) of 11 788 patients with non-severe pneumonia died compared with 488 (14%) of 3434 patients with severe pneumonia. Three characteristics were strongly associated with death of children retrospectively classified as having non-severe pneumonia: severe pallor (adjusted risk ratio 5·9, 95% CI 5·1–6·8), mild to moderate pallor (3·4, 3·0–3·8), and weight-for-age Z score (WAZ) less than −3 SD (3·8, 3·4–4·3). Additional factors that were independently associated with death were: WAZ less than −2 to −3 SD, age younger than 12 months, lower chest wall indrawing, respiratory rate of 70 breaths per min or more, female sex, admission to hospital in a malaria endemic region, moderate dehydration, and an axillary temperature of 39°C or more. Interpretation In settings of high mortality, WAZ less than −3 SD or any degree of pallor among children with non-severe pneumonia was associated with a clinically important risk of death. Our data suggest that admission to hospital should not be denied to children with these signs and we urge clinicians to consider these risk factors in addition to WHO criteria in their decision making. Funding Wellcome Trust.

Background Audit and feedback (A&F;) is widely used in healthcare but there are few examples of how to deploy it at scale in low-income countries. Establishing the Clinical Information Network (CIN) in Kenya provided an opportunity to examine the effect of A&F; delivered as part of a wider set of activities to promote paediatric guideline adherence. Methods We analysed data collected from medical records on discharge for children aged 2–59 months from 14 Kenyan hospitals in the CIN. Hospitals joined CIN in phases and for each we analysed their initial 25 months of participation that occurred between December 2013 and March 2016. A total of 34 indicators of adherence to recommendations were selected for evaluation each classified by form of feedback (passive, active and none) and type of task (simple or difficult documentation and those requiring cognitive work). Performance change was explored graphically and using generalised linear mixed models with attention given to the effects of time and use of a standardised paediatric admission record (PAR) form. Results Data from 60 214 admissions were eligible for analysis. Adherence to recommendations across hospitals significantly improved for 24/34 indicators. Improvements were not obviously related to nature of feedback, may be related to task type and were related to PAR use in the case of documentation indicators. There was, however, marked variability in adoption and adherence to recommended practices across sites and indicators. Hospital-specific factors, low baseline performance and specific contextual changes appeared to influence the magnitude of change in specific cases. Conclusion Our observational data suggest some change in multiple indicators of adherence to recommendations (aspects of quality of care) can be achieved in low-resource hospitals using A&F; and simple job aides in the context of a wider network approach.

IntroductionThere were almost 1 million deaths in children aged between 5 and 14 years in 2017, and pneumonia accounted for 11%. However, there are no validated guidelines for pneumonia management in older children and data to support their development are limited. We sought to understand risk factors for mortality among children aged 5–14 years hospitalised with pneumonia in district-level health facilities in Kenya.MethodsWe did a retrospective cohort study using data collected from an established clinical information network of 13 hospitals. We reviewed records for children aged 5–14 years admitted with pneumonia between 1 March 2014 and 28 February 2018. Individual clinical signs were examined for association with inpatient mortality using logistic regression. We used existing WHO criteria (intended for under 5s) to define levels of severity and examined their performance in identifying those at increased risk of death.Results1832 children were diagnosed with pneumonia and 145 (7.9%) died. Severe pallor was strongly associated with mortality (adjusted OR (aOR) 8.06, 95% CI 4.72 to 13.75) as were reduced consciousness, mild/moderate pallor, central cyanosis and older age (>9 years) (aOR >2). Comorbidities HIV and severe acute malnutrition were also associated with death (aOR 2.31, 95% CI 1.39 to 3.84 and aOR 1.89, 95% CI 1.12 to 3.21, respectively). The presence of clinical characteristics used by WHO to define severe pneumonia was associated with death in univariate analysis (OR 2.69). However, this combination of clinical characteristics was poor in discriminating those at risk of death (sensitivity: 0.56, specificity: 0.68, and area under the curve: 0.62).ConclusionChildren >5 years have high inpatient pneumonia mortality. These findings also suggest that the WHO criteria for classification of severity for children under 5 years do not appear to be a valid tool for risk assessment in this older age group, indicating the urgent need for evidence-based clinical guidelines for this neglected population.

Objective To examine trends in prescription of cough medicines over the period 2002 to 2015 in children aged 1 month to 12 years admitted to Kenyan hospitals with cough, difficulty breathing or diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection. Methods We reviewed hospitalization records of children included in four studies providing cross-sectional prevalence estimates from government hospitals for 6 time periods between 2002 and 2015. Children with an atopic illness were excluded. Amongst eligible children, we determined the proportion prescribed any adjuvant medication for cough. Active ingredients in these medicines were often multiple and were classified into five categories: antihistamines, antitussives, mucolytics/expectorants, decongestants and bronchodilators. From late 2006, guidelines discouraging cough medicine use have been widely disseminated and in 2009 national directives to decrease cough medicine use were issued. Results Across the studies, 17,963 children were eligible. Their median age and length of hospital stay were comparable. The proportion of children who received cough medicines shrank across the surveys: approximately 6% [95% CI 5.4,6.6] of children had a prescription in 2015 vs. 40% [95% CI 35.5,45.6] in 2002. The most common active ingredients were antihistamines and bronchodilators. The relative proportion that included antihistamines has increased over time. Conclusions There has been an overall decline in the use of cough medicines among hospitalized children over time. This decline has been associated with educational, policy and mass media interventions.

Severe anemia is a leading indication for blood transfusion and a major cause of hospital admission and mortality in African children. Failure to initiate blood transfusion rapidly enough contributes to anemia deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. This article examines delays in accessing blood and outcomes in transfused children in Kenyan hospitals. Children admitted with nonsurgical conditions in 10 Kenyan county hospitals participating in the Clinical Information Network who had blood transfusion ordered from September 2013 to March 2016 were studied. The delay in blood transfusion was calculated from the date when blood transfusion was prescribed to date of actual transfusion. Five percent (2,875/53,174) of admissions had blood transfusion ordered. Approximately half (45%, 1,295/2,875) of children who had blood transfusion ordered at admission had a documented hemoglobin < 5 g/dl and 36% (2,232/6,198) of all children admitted with a diagnosis of anemia were reported to have hemoglobin < 5 g/dL. Of all the ordered transfusions, 82% were administered and documented in clinical records, and three-quarters of these (75%, 1,760/2,352) were given on the same day as ordered but these proportions varied from 71% to 100% across the 10 hospitals. Children who had a transfusion ordered but did not receive the prescribed transfusion had a mortality of 20%, compared with 12% among those transfused. Malaria-associated anemia remains the leading indication for blood transfusion in acute childhood illness admissions. Delays in transfusion are common and associated with poor outcomes. Variance in delay across hospitals may be a useful indicator of health system performance.

Background Up to 90 % of the global burden of malaria morbidity and mortality occurs in sub-Saharan Africa and children under-five bear a disproportionately high malaria burden. Effective inpatient case management can reduce severe malaria mortality and morbidity, but there are few reports of how successfully international and national recommendations are adopted in management of inpatient childhood malaria. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study of inpatient malaria case management practices was conducted using data collected over 24 months in five hospitals from high malaria risk areas participating in the Clinical Information Network (CIN) in Kenya. This study describes documented clinical features, laboratory investigations and treatment of malaria in children (2–59 months) and adherence to national guidelines. Results A total of 13,014 children had a malaria diagnosis on admission to the five hospitals between March, 2014 and February, 2016. Their median age was 24 months (IQR 12–36 months). The proportion with a diagnostic test for malaria requested was 11,981 (92.1 %). Of 10,388 patients with malaria test results documented, 8050 (77.5 %) were positive and anti-malarials were prescribed in 6745 (83.8 %). Malaria treatment was prescribed in 1613/2338 (69.0 %) children with a negative malaria result out of which only 52 (3.2 %) had a repeat malaria test done as recommended in national guidelines. Documentation of clinical features was good across all hospitals, but quinine remained the most prescribed malaria drug (47.2 % of positive cases) although a transition to artesunate (46.1 %) was observed. Although documented clinical features suggested approximately half of positive malaria patients were not severe cases artemether-lumefantrine was prescribed on admission in only 3.7 % cases. Conclusions Despite improvements in inpatient malaria care, high rates of presumptive treatment for test negative children and likely over-use of injectable anti-malarial drugs were observed. Three years after national policy change, there is a gradual transition to artesunate. Continued efforts to support improved routine inpatient malaria care through dissemination and implementation of guidelines, and access to recommended drugs are needed together with improved capacity of hospitals to investigate other causes of severe illness in children. Efforts to improve clinical information could help track progress.

In many low income countries health information systems are poorly equipped to provide detailed information on hospital care and outcomes. Information is thus rarely used to support practice improvement. We describe efforts to tackle this challenge and to foster learning concerning collection and use of information. This could improve hospital services in Kenya. We are developing a Clinical Information Network, a collaboration spanning 14 hospitals, policy makers and researchers with the goal of improving information available on the quality of inpatient paediatric care across common childhood illnesses in Kenya. Standardised data from hospitals’ paediatric wards are collected using non-commercial and open source tools. We have implemented procedures for promoting data quality which are performed prior to a process of semi-automated analysis and routine report generation for hospitals in the network. In the first phase of the Clinical Information Network, we collected data on over 65,000 admission episodes. Despite clinicians’ initial unfamiliarity with routine performance reporting, we found that, as an initial focus, both engaging with each hospital and providing them information helped improve the quality of data and therefore reports. The process has involved mutual learning and building of trust in the data and should provide the basis for collaborative efforts to improve care, to understand patient outcome, and to evaluate interventions through shared learning. We have found that hospitals are willing to support the development of a clinically focused but geographically dispersed Clinical Information Network in a low-income setting. Such networks show considerable promise as platforms for collaborative efforts to improve care, to provide better information for decision making, and to enable locally relevant research.

In 2002, we identified major shortcomings in the management of sick newborns and children at the first referral or district hospital level in Kenya.1 Failure in the dissemination of knowledge and skills (and thus of translation of evidence informed policy) was a fundamental problem. To address this challenge between 2005 and 2012 we developed, implemented and studied: 1. the national evidence-based clinical practice guidelines in the form of protocol booklets that can be disseminated at scale (and have recently described how this process matured over more than a decade)2 3; 2. the Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment plus Admission Care course4 (that has been updated over time); 3. the standardised medical record forms including checklists of key symptoms and signs that are key elements of the protocols and help define the nature and severity of common illnesses5 (also updated over time). The effect of implementing these tools as part of a multifaceted strategy including outreach, audit and feedback to improve guideline adherence was tested between 2006 and 2009 and proven effective in a cluster randomised trial.6 In recent years, we have been able to document wider adoption of the protocols, training and record forms (including uptake outside Kenya) with some evidence of improvements in the quality of district hospital care, measured as adherence to guidelines, beyond centres directly engaged in research.7–10 In the last 4 years (2013–2017) we have adopted a new strategy, building on these earlier experiences, to continue efforts to improve hospital care for children in Kenya with a focus on adoption of agreed practice guidelines and uptake of basic technologies. At the heart of this new strategy is a Clinical Information Network (CIN). Here we outline the rationale for and philosophy of the CIN and how we suggest it helps Kenya as a low-income country (LIC) meet …

BackgroundLack of detailed information about hospital activities, processes and outcomes hampers planning, performance monitoring and improvement in low-income countries (LIC). Clinical networks offer one means to advance methods for data collection and use, informing wider health system development in time, but are rare in LIC. We report baseline data from a new Clinical Information Network (CIN) in Kenya seeking to promote data-informed improvement and learning.MethodsData from 13 hospitals engaged in the Kenyan CIN between April 2014 and March 2015 were captured from medical and laboratory records. We use these data to characterise clinical care and outcomes of hospital admission.ResultsData were available for a total of 30 042 children aged between 2 months and 15 years. Malaria (in five hospitals), pneumonia and diarrhoea/dehydration (all hospitals) accounted for the majority of diagnoses and comorbidity was found in 17 710 (59%) patients. Overall, 1808 deaths (6%) occurred (range per hospital 2.5%–11.1%) with 1037 deaths (57.4%) occurring by day 2 of admission (range 41%–67.8%). While malaria investigations are commonly done, clinical health workers rarely investigate for other possible causes of fever, test for blood glucose in severe illness or ascertain HIV status of admissions. Adherence to clinical guideline-recommended treatment for malaria, pneumonia, meningitis and acute severe malnutrition varied widely across hospitals.ConclusionDeveloping clinical networks is feasible with appropriate support. Early data demonstrate that hospital mortality remains high in Kenya, that resources to investigate severe illness are limited, that care provided and outcomes vary widely and that adoption of effective interventions remains slow. Findings suggest considerable scope for improving care within and across sites.