Impact of the primary trauma care course in the Kongo Central province of the Democratic Republic of Congo over two years

• Published in: Injury 2020-02, Vol.51 (2), p.235-242
• Main Authors: Tolppa, T, Vangu, AM, Balu, HC, Matondo, P, Tissingh, E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Democratic Republic of Congo; Low and middle-income countries; Primary Trauma Care; Trauma Training
• ISSN: 0020-1383; 1879-0267
• DOI: 10.1016/j.injury.2019.12.013

•An effective approach to improve trauma services is education, which equips healthcare professionals with skills to care for injured patients.•Knowledge scores following a trauma training course in the Democratic Republic of Congo were low but were maintained at 24 months post-course.•Confidence scores decreased after training suggesting that training needs to be supported in routine clinical practice.•Participants stated that trauma care needs to be improved and agreed that trauma training is an important element in improving trauma care. The two-day Primary Trauma Care (PTC) course covers the management of injured patients and takes into account resource constraints experienced in low and middle-income countries. Currently, there are no studies on the long-term impact of the course on knowledge or attitudes. The PTC course was introduced in Kongo Central Central province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of a series of interventions to improve trauma care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of PTC on the trauma knowledge, confidence and attitudes regarding trauma care of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the DRC over two years. A retrospective cohort study was conducted comparing multiple-choice questionnaire (MCQ) and confidence matrix results of PTC attendees prior to the course, immediately after, and at the time of follow up at either 12, 16 or 24 months. A semi-structured questionnaire was additionally administered at follow up to explore the effect of PTC on key areas of trauma learning: skills, attitudes and relationships. A total of 59/80 HCWs who attended the PTC course completed follow-up questionnaires. Participants were predominantly male (42/59) with a mean age of 41.6 years. There was an increase of 4.8 in MCQ scores and 9.6 in confidence scores (p