Some sustained improvements in pneumonia case management four and five years following implementation of paediatric hospital guidelines in Lao PDR

Abstract

In 2010, WHO paediatric hospital guidelines were implemented in Lao PDR, along with training workshops and feedback audits, achieving significant improvements in pneumonia case management when assessed one-year post-intervention. The sustainability of these improvements is hereby assessed, four and five years post-intervention. Medical records of children aged 1-59 months, diagnosed with pneumonia in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015 from a central Lao hospital were reviewed. Information relating to clinical steps in pneumonia case management was extracted and a scoring system applied based on the documentation of each clinical step, producing a pneumonia assessment score for each case. Comparisons ..