Table 2.
Summary of study outcomes
| Control clusters (n = 10) | Intervention clusters (n = 9) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Clients with complete data | 5797 | 7522 | |
| Diagnosis and treatment | Frequency (%) | Frequency (%) | |
| Blood slide-positive | 1841 (31.8) | 3271 (43.5) | |
| Malaria treatment by infection status | |||
| Blood slide-negative, received no ACT1 | 8 (0.2) | 2662 (62.6) | |
| Blood slide-negative, received ACT | 3948 (99.8) | 1589 (37.4) | |
| Trial endpoints | Cluster mean (95 % CI) | Cluster mean (95 % CI) | |
| Proportion of blood slide-negative patients receiving ACT | 99.8 (99.5−100.0) | 42.4 (28.8−56.0) | p < 0.001 |
| Proportion of febrile patients receiving appropriate treatment for malaria with ACT (95 % CI) |
33.7 (25.8−41.5) | 72.9 (67.3−78.6) | p < 0.001 |
| Proportion of febrile patients seen within 24 h of onset of symptoms receiving appropriate treatment | 26.8 (19.5−34.2) | 52.8 (45.9−59.7) | p < 0.001 |
| Proportion of febrile patients referred* | 244 (3.6 %) | 1019 (11.9 %) | p < 0.001 |
| Reasons for referral | |||
| Danger signs | 105 (46.9 %) | 667 (78.7 %) | p < 0.001 |
| Other signs | 119 (53.1 %) | 180 (21.3 %) | |
| Recommendations from clients | |||
| What do you recommend with regard to DSV? | |||
| Improve health facilities of DSVs | 16 (19.5 %) | 19 (25.3) | |
| Improve geographical access | 2 (2.4) | 3 (4.0) | |
| Cheaper medication | 8 (9.8) | 12 (16.0) | |
| Greater stock and variety of medication | 19 (23.2) | 8 (10.7) | |
| Show patients test results RDT/blood samples | 4 (4.9) | 3 (4.0) | |
| Continue RDT use/expand to other DSVs | 26 (31.7) | 10 (13.3) | |
| Develop RDTs for other illnesses | 11 (13.4) | 20 (26.7) | |
| Which aspects of the treatment and advice you received at the drug shop were you happy with? | |||
| Patient recovered/treatment worked | 118 (54.4) | 91 (41.5) | |
| Standard and form of healthcare provided | 111 (51.1) | 81 (37.0) | |
| Price of treatment and provision of credit | 20 (9.2) | 13 (5.9) | |
| Health facilities and stock of medication | 9 (4.1) | 2 (0.9) | |
| Offered referral and/or conditional advice | 4 (1.8) | 6 (2.7) | |
| Use of ‘blood test’/RDT | 19 (8.8) | 101 (46.1) | |
* Within 24 hours of consultation
1ACT defined as either receiving artemether-lumefantrine of rectal artesunate