Determinants of Data Use for Decision Making in Health Facilities in Kitui County, Kenya
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Date
2021-06
Authors
Karijo, Eddah Kanini
Otieno, George Ochieng
Mogere, Stephen
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
QJMSS
Abstract
Background: Effective management of today’s health systems depends on the critical
use of data for the policy-making, planning, monitoring of services, and making
decisions. The use of data has been limited and faced with inadequacy hence vital
health decisions often relying on political opportunism, donor demand, and infrequently
repeated national studies which are insensitive to changes occurring over a shorter
timescale.
Objective: This study was designed to identify determinants of utilization of routine
data for decision making by health care providers in health facilities in Kitui County
in Kenya.
Method: The conceptual framework was constructed from the literature review. This
was a descriptive cross-sectional study adopting quantitative and qualitative research
paradigms. The district hospital was purposively selected. Multi-stage cluster sampling
was used to sample the health facilities in sub-counties and simple random sampling
to select the respondents from different cadres in health facilities. The 110 participants
completed a self-administered questionnaire. Key informant interviews, focused group
discussions, observation, and analysis of documents in health facilities were applied.
Recordings were transcribed and key concepts identified. Questionnaire results were
edited, coded, tabulated, and analyzed using the SPSS 18.
Result: Respondents interviewed were from different cadres of health care providers
including doctors, clinical officers, nurses, and midwives from different levels of health
facilities. Among the respondents, 70% were females, and 30% males. The majority,
64% had a diploma level of education. Nurses/ midwives were the majority, making up
81% of the workforce. The overall extent of data utilization was 66% not using data
and 34% use the routine generated data. The following actors influence utilization of
routine data: frequency of meetings held (x2=42.036, df=1, p=0.001), data storage and
analyzing methods (x2= 30.582, df=1, p=0.001), and continuous professional training
(x2= 49.782, df=1, p=0.0001). Organization of the district health system influenced
routine data utilization through the frequency of support supervision (x2=30.000, df=1,
p=0.001), issues assessed during supervision (x2=49.164, df=2, p=0.002) and feedback
report from the supervisors (x2=5.236, df=1, p=0.022).
Conclusion: The study demonstrated limited utilization of routine data for decisions
in health facilities and recommended the need for capacity building for data utilization
through on job training and strengthening the curriculum in health training institutions
in data-related areas. The ministry of health can standardize the parallel reporting levels
and unify the reporting tools and finally ensure the districts have structured meetings,
support supervision, and feedback to the health care providers
Description
article
Keywords
Data use, Decision making, Policymaking, Health systems, Health Information
Citation
Karijo, E.K., Otieno, G. O., & Mogere, S. (2021). Determinants of data use for decision making in health facilities in Kitui country, Kenya. Quest Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 3(1), 63-75.