Adherence to Standard Management Procedure of Organophosphate Poisoning in Selected Health Facilities in Nandi County, Kenya

Abstract

Organophosphate poisoning is a public health problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide with over 300,000- 350,000 deaths mostly in developing countries. Incidences of organophosphate poisoning in Nandi County has been on the rise due to widespread and increased access use of organophosphate compounds. The adherence by health care providers in Nandi County is low despite the existence of management guidelines of organophosphate poisoning. Compliance to this guidelines have been proven to improve the quality and outcome of the patient. The study main objective is to determine the level of adherence to the standard management procedure of organophosphate poisoning in selected health facilities in Nandi County. A hospital based retrospective study was carried out on 166 patient records with organophosphate poisoning in Kapsabet County Referral Hospital (87 cases), Nandi Hills County Hospital (49 cases), Kaptumo Sub-County Hospital (14 cases) and Mosoriot Sub-County Hospital (14 cases), Nandi County. Data collected was entered and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The level of significance was set at 0.05. The study findings indicated that majority of the patients were male (73.3 per cent), married (61.1 per cent), informally employed (85.5 per cent), primary level of education (64.1 per cent) and aged between 18-30 years (56 per cent) who consumed poison with the intention of dying (85.5 per cent). There was a significant association between type of organophosphate poisoning and age (2=148.178, df=4, P0.001), marital status (2=17.059, df=2, P0.001) and literacy level (2=28.767, df=3, P0.001). Management procedures carried out were ABC assessment (96.9 per cent), gastric lavage (65.9 per cent), atropine administration (97.6 per cent) and monitoring of fluids, electrolyte (98.2 per cent), resuscitation (29.4 per cent), skin irrigation (2.5 per cent), emesis (18.5 per cent), administration of activated charcoal (10.7 per cent) and administration of pralidoxime (1.5 per cent).