Abstract

GALLEGO-VELEZ, Liliana Isabel et al. Evaluating the effect of an educational intervention regarding congenital syphilis in healthcare-workers in the urabá region of Colombia, 2008: A before and after study. Rev Colomb Obstet Ginecol [online]. 2012, vol.63, n.4, pp.312-320. ISSN 0034-7434.

Objective: Evaluating the effect of an educational intervention aimed at healthcare personnel regarding adherence to gestational syphilis (GS) and congenital syphilis (CS) management guidelines, early and suitable reporting of cases of GS and CS and their perception about using a rapid point-ofcare test for diagnosing syphilis. Materials and methods: An intervention study was carried out involving before and after measurement. Population: staff working in first-level healthcare centres in a rural area attending the population of Turbo located in Colombia’s Caribbean region, close to Panamá, during 2008. Such intervention consisted of training healthcare staff, delivering printed material and providing a rapid point-ofcare syphilis test. How effectively the healthcare staff had acquired such knowledge and the effect of the training given on attending patients was evaluated regarding adherence to the guidelines, notification and workers’ perception of using the rapid test. Information was directly obtained from the healthcare staff and the clinical histories of females attending the programme. Statistical analysis: A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for evaluating changes when scoring the test of their knowledge (before/after). A Chi² test was used for evaluating changes in percentages regarding fulfilling the recommendations (statistical significance was fixed at 5%). Results: 533 clinical histories were evaluated and 129 people were trained. Reporting GS cases in Turbo improved significantly (8% vs 48%; p = 0.01), as well as the healthcare personnel’s level of knowledge (p = 0.002), the search for (18% vs 53%; p = 0.001) and treatment of contacts (10% vs 29%; p = 0.034) and suitable treatment of the new-born (47% vs 85%; p = 0.03). Healthcare personnel had a favourable opinion about the rapid syphilis test. Conclusions: Training orientated towards resolving local problems improves the quality of healthcare attention provided for pregnant females and newborns babies suffering syphilis.

Keywords : Gestational syphilis; congenital syphilis; healthcare education; rapid syphilis test.

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