John Y Rhee1,2, Eduardo Garralda2,3, Carlos Torrado4, Santiago Blanco4, Ibone Ayala4, Eve Namisango5, Emmanuel Luyirika5, Liliana de Lima6, Richard A Powell7, Jesús López-Fidalgo8, Carlos Centeno2,3,9. 1. 1 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , New York, New York. 2. 2 ATLANTES Research Program, Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra , Pamplona, Spain . 3. 3 IdiSNA (Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra/Institute of Health Research of Navarra) , Pamplona, Spain . 4. 4 School of Medicine, University of Navarra , Pamplona, Spain . 5. 5 African Palliative Care Association , Kampala, Uganda . 6. 6 International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care , Houston, Texas. 7. 7 MWAPO Health Development Group , Nairobi, Kenya . 8. 8 Department of Statistics, Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra , Pamplona, Spain . 9. 9 Clínica Universidad de Navarra, University of Navarra , Pamplona, Spain .
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Palliative care (PC) research in Africa has been proposed as a fifth dimension of the World Health Organization PC Public Health Strategy. We conducted a scoping review of published articles (2005-2016) on palliative care development (PCD) in African countries. Forty-seven articles were found across 26 countries. OBJECTIVE: To study whether the number of published articles on PCD in countries in Africa can be used as an indicator of PCD. DESIGN: This is a secondary analysis of a completed scoping review. MEASUREMENTS: Spearman correlations were applied to the number of published articles ("published articles") and the number of published articles with a coauthor from a high-income country (HIC) ("HIC published articles") with level of PCD using Lynch et al's updated world map (PC World Map) as a proxy. A subanalysis was undertaken for Anglophone versus non-Anglophone countries. RESULTS: There were positive Spearman correlations (r) between the PC World Map's levels and published articles (r = 0.73; p < 0.001), and with HIC published articles (r = 0.68; p < 0.001). For Anglophone countries, the r was statistically significant (p < 0.001) at 0.69 and 0.70, versus 0.58 and 0.45 for non-Anglophone countries for published articles and HIC published articles, respectively. Kruskal-Wallis test showed a statistically significant difference between Anglophone and non-Anglophone countries for both published articles and HIC published articles (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Published articles and HIC published articles on PCD in Africa had strong positive r's with the PC World Map. These measures may be considered as two indicators of PCD for countries in Africa, particularly for Anglophone countries.
BACKGROUND: Palliative care (PC) research in Africa has been proposed as a fifth dimension of the World Health Organization PC Public Health Strategy. We conducted a scoping review of published articles (2005-2016) on palliative care development (PCD) in African countries. Forty-seven articles were found across 26 countries. OBJECTIVE: To study whether the number of published articles on PCD in countries in Africa can be used as an indicator of PCD. DESIGN: This is a secondary analysis of a completed scoping review. MEASUREMENTS: Spearman correlations were applied to the number of published articles ("published articles") and the number of published articles with a coauthor from a high-income country (HIC) ("HIC published articles") with level of PCD using Lynch et al's updated world map (PC World Map) as a proxy. A subanalysis was undertaken for Anglophone versus non-Anglophone countries. RESULTS: There were positive Spearman correlations (r) between the PC World Map's levels and published articles (r = 0.73; p < 0.001), and with HIC published articles (r = 0.68; p < 0.001). For Anglophone countries, the r was statistically significant (p < 0.001) at 0.69 and 0.70, versus 0.58 and 0.45 for non-Anglophone countries for published articles and HIC published articles, respectively. Kruskal-Wallis test showed a statistically significant difference between Anglophone and non-Anglophone countries for both published articles and HIC published articles (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Published articles and HIC published articles on PCD in Africa had strong positive r's with the PC World Map. These measures may be considered as two indicators of PCD for countries in Africa, particularly for Anglophone countries.
Keywords:
Africa; health status indicators; palliative care; public health systems research; review
Authors: Samy A Alsirafy; Amneh D Hassan; Mahmoud Y Sroor; Ismail Samy; Somaia M A Mousa Journal: BMC Palliat Care Date: 2022-07-12 Impact factor: 3.113