American Journal of Laboratory Medicine

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Utilisation of Laboratory Test Results for Patient Management by Clinicians at Two Large Referral Hospitals in Zambia

Received: 19 September 2020    Accepted: 05 October 2020    Published: 14 October 2020
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Abstract

Background: Medical laboratory diagnosis is a critical component of patient management in the healthcare setup. Despite the availability of laboratory tests, clinicians may not utilise them to make clinical decisions. We investigated utilsation of laboratory tests for patient management among clinicians at Ndola Teaching Hospital (NTH) and Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital (ADCH), two large referral hospitals in the Copperbelt Province, Ndola, Zambia. Method: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among clinicians. The study deployed self-administered questionnaires to evaluate clinicians’ utilisation, querying and confidence in laboratory results. Additional data on demographics and possible laboratory improvements were also obtained. Data were entered in Microsoft excel and exported to SPSS version 16 for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 80 clinicians interviewed, 96.2% (77) reported using laboratory tests and their results in patient management. 77.5% (62) of the clinicians indicated they always used laboratory results to influence their patient management decisions. Of the selected laboratory tests, clinicians were more confident in using haemoglobin test results (91.2%). There was no statistically significant association between the clinicians’ gender or qualification and use of test results in patient management. Conclusion: Our findings show that despite the majority querying laboratory results, most of the clinicians use laboratory results for patient management. There is need for interactions between the laboratory and clinical area to assure clinician’s confidence in laboratory results.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13
Published in American Journal of Laboratory Medicine (Volume 5, Issue 5, September 2020)
Page(s) 144-149
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Papadakis M, McPhee S, Rabow M. Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2020 | AccessMedicine | McGraw-Hill Medical (Internet). 2020 (cited 2020 Jun 11). Available from: https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookID=2683%%%%%Hajjaj FM, Salek MS, Basra MKA, Finlay AY. Non-clinical influences on clinical decision-making: A major challenge to evidence-based practice. Vol. 103, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Royal Society of Medicine Press; 2010. p. 178–87.%%%%%Wians FH. Clinical

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Author Information
  • Department of Public Health, University of Lusaka, Lusaka, Zambia; Laboratory Department, Catholic Relief Services, Lusaka, Zambia

  • School of Medicine, Copperbelt University, Ndola, Zambia

  • School of Medicine, Copperbelt University, Ndola, Zambia

  • School of Medicine, Copperbelt University, Ndola, Zambia

  • Department of Biomedical Sciences, Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Ndola, Zambia

  • School of Medicine, Copperbelt University, Ndola, Zambia

  • School of Medicine, Copperbelt University, Ndola, Zambia

  • School of Medicine, Copperbelt University, Ndola, Zambia

  • Department of Public Health, University of Lusaka, Lusaka, Zambia; National Health Research Authority, Lusaka, Zambia

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  • APA Style

    Sabe Mwape, Victor Daka, Scott Kaba Matafwali, Kapambwe Mwape, Jay Sikalima, et al. (2020). Utilisation of Laboratory Test Results for Patient Management by Clinicians at Two Large Referral Hospitals in Zambia. American Journal of Laboratory Medicine, 5(5), 144-149. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13

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    ACS Style

    Sabe Mwape; Victor Daka; Scott Kaba Matafwali; Kapambwe Mwape; Jay Sikalima, et al. Utilisation of Laboratory Test Results for Patient Management by Clinicians at Two Large Referral Hospitals in Zambia. Am. J. Lab. Med. 2020, 5(5), 144-149. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13

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    AMA Style

    Sabe Mwape, Victor Daka, Scott Kaba Matafwali, Kapambwe Mwape, Jay Sikalima, et al. Utilisation of Laboratory Test Results for Patient Management by Clinicians at Two Large Referral Hospitals in Zambia. Am J Lab Med. 2020;5(5):144-149. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13,
      author = {Sabe Mwape and Victor Daka and Scott Kaba Matafwali and Kapambwe Mwape and Jay Sikalima and Pipina Anna Vlahakis and Memory Chirambo Kalolekesha and Namaunga Kasumu Chisompola and Victor Chalwe},
      title = {Utilisation of Laboratory Test Results for Patient Management by Clinicians at Two Large Referral Hospitals in Zambia},
      journal = {American Journal of Laboratory Medicine},
      volume = {5},
      number = {5},
      pages = {144-149},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajlm.20200505.13},
      abstract = {Background: Medical laboratory diagnosis is a critical component of patient management in the healthcare setup. Despite the availability of laboratory tests, clinicians may not utilise them to make clinical decisions. We investigated utilsation of laboratory tests for patient management among clinicians at Ndola Teaching Hospital (NTH) and Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital (ADCH), two large referral hospitals in the Copperbelt Province, Ndola, Zambia. Method: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among clinicians. The study deployed self-administered questionnaires to evaluate clinicians’ utilisation, querying and confidence in laboratory results. Additional data on demographics and possible laboratory improvements were also obtained. Data were entered in Microsoft excel and exported to SPSS version 16 for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 80 clinicians interviewed, 96.2% (77) reported using laboratory tests and their results in patient management. 77.5% (62) of the clinicians indicated they always used laboratory results to influence their patient management decisions. Of the selected laboratory tests, clinicians were more confident in using haemoglobin test results (91.2%). There was no statistically significant association between the clinicians’ gender or qualification and use of test results in patient management. Conclusion: Our findings show that despite the majority querying laboratory results, most of the clinicians use laboratory results for patient management. There is need for interactions between the laboratory and clinical area to assure clinician’s confidence in laboratory results.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Utilisation of Laboratory Test Results for Patient Management by Clinicians at Two Large Referral Hospitals in Zambia
    AU  - Sabe Mwape
    AU  - Victor Daka
    AU  - Scott Kaba Matafwali
    AU  - Kapambwe Mwape
    AU  - Jay Sikalima
    AU  - Pipina Anna Vlahakis
    AU  - Memory Chirambo Kalolekesha
    AU  - Namaunga Kasumu Chisompola
    AU  - Victor Chalwe
    Y1  - 2020/10/14
    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13
    T2  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
    JF  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
    JO  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
    SP  - 144
    EP  - 149
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-386X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200505.13
    AB  - Background: Medical laboratory diagnosis is a critical component of patient management in the healthcare setup. Despite the availability of laboratory tests, clinicians may not utilise them to make clinical decisions. We investigated utilsation of laboratory tests for patient management among clinicians at Ndola Teaching Hospital (NTH) and Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital (ADCH), two large referral hospitals in the Copperbelt Province, Ndola, Zambia. Method: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among clinicians. The study deployed self-administered questionnaires to evaluate clinicians’ utilisation, querying and confidence in laboratory results. Additional data on demographics and possible laboratory improvements were also obtained. Data were entered in Microsoft excel and exported to SPSS version 16 for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 80 clinicians interviewed, 96.2% (77) reported using laboratory tests and their results in patient management. 77.5% (62) of the clinicians indicated they always used laboratory results to influence their patient management decisions. Of the selected laboratory tests, clinicians were more confident in using haemoglobin test results (91.2%). There was no statistically significant association between the clinicians’ gender or qualification and use of test results in patient management. Conclusion: Our findings show that despite the majority querying laboratory results, most of the clinicians use laboratory results for patient management. There is need for interactions between the laboratory and clinical area to assure clinician’s confidence in laboratory results.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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