23 December 2024 : Clinical Research
Evaluation of IMPALA 2.0: Addressing Patient Monitoring in Low-Resource Hospitals in Malawi
Lezzie Douglas Chirambo
12ABCDEF*, Atupele Ngina Mulaga1ACDEF, Adamson Thengolose1ACE, Alick Onesimus Vweza2AEFG, Bart Laurens Bierling3ADEF, IMPALA Study Team, Job Calis 456DEG
DOI: 10.12659/MSM.945856
Med Sci Monit 2024; 30:e945856
Table 3 Challenges: major themes, sub-themes, percentages, and examples (N=24).
| Themes | Sub-themes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Alarms | Frequent alarms (12.5%) | Participant #18: Frequent alarming tends to be annoying |
| False alarms (20.8%) | Participant #11: Sometimes we have false alarms which contribute to alarm fatigue | |
| Data artifacts | Inaccurate readings (41.7%) | Participant #2: Oxygen saturation sometimes shows a reading not in line with the patient’s condition ie, lower saturations than what the patient has |
| Hardware | Sensor detachment (58.3%) | Participant #9: The probe for measuring oxygen saturation keeps on dropping down in most cases |
| Battery life (33.3%) | Participant #14: Shutting down monitors when there is a blackout due to low battery voltage | |
| Lack of temperature sensors (25.5%) | Participant #8: The monitor does not have a probe to use in measuring temperature which requires me as the user to use a separate device | |
| Cable entanglement (8.3%) | Participant #18: Entanglement of cables might be risky to the patient | |
| Human factor | Lack of knowledge/skills (62.5%) | Participant #3: Lack of knowledge and understanding on how to check previous data |
| Software | Data loss (8.3%) | Participant #9: Loss of patient information |
| Other | general comments (16.7%) | Participant #12: SpO probe causes harm to skin if left for a long time |