Patients´ and health care providers´ experiences with fracture management: a qualitative study from Malawi

Project summary

The rate of injuries is rising in low-income countries (LIC) and has become a major public health problem.

For every person who dies from injury, there are many more left with permanent disabilities. Musculoskeletal injuries make up for a great deal of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), both for the income generating age-groups, as well as for the ever growing elderly part of the population in Africa, and adequate and effective treatment is important.

In the case of treatment of femur and hip fractures, a majority of patients undergo skeletal traction treatment in bed for a period of up to 3 months (Young et al., 2012a). This management of fractures has been and is still used extensively in Africa since decades without physiotherapy to compensate for the loss of function and mobility. Indeed, in Malawi as in most other LIC, skeletal traction is justified by its alleged lower costs and risks compared to internal fixation, at the same time as physiotherapy resources are nearly absent and patients are left in bed most of the time unattended.

The researcher, who has working experience from Malawi as a physiotherapist, will explore various professionals' opinions and experience with the use of skeletal traction as treatment of lower limb fractures.

Moreover, the researcher will explore the patients' experiences with the treatment, with health care services and with the consequences of long hospitalization. She further wishes to explore their functioning and coping after being discharged and having returned to their communities and every day chores.

Method

Helsearbeidere og pasienter vil intervjues individuelt eller-/og gjennom fokusgruppe diskusjoner,  ved hjelp av intervjuguider og semi-strukturerte intervju. Formålet er å undersøke kunnskap og erfaringer med helsetjenester ved traksjonsbehandling, ut i fra profesjonelle og pasienters ståsteder.