Do private providers give patients what they demand, even if it is inappropriate? A randomised study using unannounced standardised patients in Kenya.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Low and varied quality of care has been demonstrated for childhood illnesses in low-income and middle-income countries. Some quality improvement strategies focus on increasing patient engagement; however, evidence suggests that patients demanding medicines can favour the selection of resistant microbial strains in the individual and the community if drugs are inappropriately used. This study examines the effects on quality of care when patients demand different types of inappropriate medicines.

Methods

We conducted an experiment where unannounced standardised patients (SPs), locally recruited individuals trained to simulate a standardised case, present at private clinics. Between 8 March and 28 May 2019, 10 SPs portraying caretakers of a watery diarrhoea childho

SUBMITTER: Kwan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8935168 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature