Makerere University

About: Makerere University is a education organization based out in Kampala, Uganda. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 7220 authors who have published 12405 publications receiving 366520 citations. The organization is also known as: Makerere University Kampala & MUK.

Intellectual capital and performance: testing interaction effects

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction effect of intellectual capital elements and how they fuse to affect financial performance in microfinance institutions. The major purpose is to explore the appropriate blend or mix of intellectual capital elements that explains the source of value creation – hence performance – in microfinance institutions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts the ModGraph program (Excel version) along with the Kenny and Boran approach to test conditional hypotheses.Findings – The magnitude effect of human capital on performance depends on any of structural or relational capital; hence the assumption of nonadditivity is met. However, no significant interaction effects were established between relational and structural capital.Research limitations/implications – Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cr...

Drug sensitivity patterns of bacterial isolates from septic post-operative wounds in a regional referral hospital in Uganda

Abstract: Background: Wound infections have been a problem in the field of surgery for a long time.Advances in control of infections have not completely eradicated this problem because of development of drug resistance.Antimicrobial resistance can increase complications and costs associated with procedures and treatment. Objective: A study was carried out on drug sensitivity patterns of bacterial isolates from septic postoperative wounds in Jinja hospital, Uganda.This study was designed to determine the distribution of bacterial pathogens isolated from septic post-operative wounds and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Method: Specimens of pus swabs were collected aseptically and analysed in the laboratory. Colony characteristics and Grams technique were used to differentiate the organisms. Biochemical tests were done to confirm the species of the organisms. Sensitivity testing was done on the isolates using the disk diffusion method. Results: Pathogenic bacteria were recovered from 58.5% of the specimens.The isolates were: S.aureus (45.1%), Coliforms (16.9%), Proteus mirabilis (11.3%), P.aeruginosa (9.9%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (7.0%) and Enterobacter spp (2.82%). Most of the organisms were sensitive to gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime.There was resistance to ampicillin, amoxycillin and chloramphenicol. Staphylococcus aureus was generally sensitive to gentamicin (87.5%), ciprofloxacin (68.7%) and methicillin (75%), but resistant to erythromycin (56.2%) and ampicillin (97%). Most of the gram-negative bacteria isolated (Coliforms, P.aeruginosa , E.coli , Proteus mirabilis , and Klebsiella pneumoniae ) were sensitive to Ciprofloxacin, Gentamicin and Ceftazidime but resistant to Ampicillin,Amoxycillin and Chloramphenicol. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains formed 25% of this species. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was sensitive to gentamicin (87.5%) and ceftazidime (85.7%) but showed resistance to ciprofloxacin (57.2%). Some organisms e.g. S.aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis exhibited multi-drug resistance to the antibiotics tested. Conclusion: Since a high proportion of samples had positive cultures, infection control is recommended as a strategy to minimise spread of resistant organisms. It is recommended that gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime be used in preference to ampicillin and amoxycillin for treatment of septic wounds.There is need to develop national surveillance of antibiotic- resistant organisms. African Health Sciences Vol. 7 (3) 2007: pp. 148-154

Discontinuation of cost sharing in Uganda

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of ending cost sharing on use of outpatient services and how this was perceived by health workers and members of a health unit management committee. METHODS: From 10 districts across Uganda, 78 health facilities were selected. Attendance at these facilities was assessed for eight months before and 12 months after cost sharing ended. The data represented 1 966 522 outpatient visits. Perceptions about the impact of ending cost sharing were obtained from the 73 health workers and 78 members of the health unit management committee who were available. FINDINGS: With the end of cost sharing, the mean monthly number of new visits increased by 17 928 (53.3%), but among children aged <5 years the increase was 3611 (27.3%). Mean monthly reattendances increased by 2838 (81.3%) among children aged <5 years and 1889 (24.3%) among all people. Attendances for immunizations, antenatal clinics, and family planning all increased, despite these services having always been free. Health workers reported a decline in morale, and many health unit management committees no longer met regularly. CONCLUSION: Use of all services increased - even those that had never before been subject to fees. The loss of some autonomy by the health facility and diminished community governance of health facilities may have long term negative effects.

Effect of Transfusion of Red Blood Cells With Longer vs Shorter Storage Duration on Elevated Blood Lactate Levels in Children With Severe Anemia: The TOTAL Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract: Importance Although millions of transfusions are given annually worldwide, the effect of red blood cell (RBC) unit storage duration on oxygen delivery is uncertain. Objective To determine if longer-storage RBC units are not inferior to shorter-storage RBC units for tissue oxygenation as measured by reduction in blood lactate levels and improvement in cerebral tissue oxygen saturation among children with severe anemia. Design, Setting, and Participants Randomized noninferiority trial of 290 children (aged 6-60 months), most with malaria or sickle cell disease, presenting February 2013 through May 2015 to a university-affiliated national referral hospital in Kampala, Uganda, with a hemoglobin level of 5 g/dL or lower and a lactate level of 5 mmol/L or higher. Interventions Patients were randomly assigned to receive RBC units stored 25 to 35 days (longer-storage group; n = 145) vs 1 to 10 days (shorter-storage group; n = 145). All units were leukoreduced prior to storage. All patients received 10 mL/kg of RBCs during hours 0 through 2 and, if indicated per protocol, an additional 10 mL/kg during hours 4 through 6. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with a lactate level of 3 mmol/L or lower at 8 hours using a margin of noninferiority equal to an absolute difference of 25%. Secondary measures included noninvasive cerebral tissue oxygen saturation during the first transfusion, clinical and laboratory changes up to 24 hours, and survival and health at 30 days after transfusion. Adverse events were monitored up to 24 hours. Results In the total population of 290 children, the mean (SD) presenting hemoglobin level was 3.7 g/dL (1.3) and mean lactate level was 9.3 mmol/L (3.4). Median (interquartile range) RBC unit storage was 8 days (7-9) for shorter storage vs 32 days (30-34) for longer storage without overlap. The proportion achieving the primary end point was 0.61 (95% CI, 0.52 to 0.69) in the longer-storage group vs 0.58 (95% CI, 0.49 to 0.66) in the shorter-storage group (between-group difference, 0.03 [95% CI, −0.07 to ∞], P Conclusions and Relevance Among children with lactic acidosis due to severe anemia, transfusion of longer-storage compared with shorter-storage RBC units did not result in inferior reduction of elevated blood lactate levels. These findings have relevance regarding the efficacy of stored RBC transfusion for patients with critical tissue hypoxia and lactic acidosis due to anemia. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:NCT01586923