Can community health workers screen under 5 yr children with computer program

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Health Informatics
• Public Health

Background:

• Primary Health Centers (PHCs) face challenges in high-risk screening for children under 5.
• Existing programs like CSSM and ICDS require integration of diverse health aspects.
• Community Health Workers (CHWs) are crucial for delivering primary healthcare services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the EKALAVYA computer program for high-risk screening of children under 5 by CHWs.
• To assess the concordance between CHW-guided screening and expert clinical evaluation.
• To identify areas for improvement in training and program implementation.

Main Methods:

• The EKALAVYA program integrates common pediatric symptoms and health promotion aspects for CHW use.
• CHWs received 2-3 weeks of user-friendly training on the EKALAVYA program.
• A comparative study assessed 96 pediatric outpatient cases, comparing CHW computer-guided evaluation with a research team's clinical evaluation.

Main Results:

• The EKALAVYA program demonstrated high user-friendliness for CHWs.
• Overall concordance between CHW computer guidance and expert clinical evaluation was 91.66%.
• Symptom-specific and severity-specific analyses also showed good concordance, with minor correctable errors identified.

Conclusions:

• The EKALAVYA program is a viable tool for empowering CHWs in pediatric high-risk screening at PHCs.
• The program shows significant potential for improving decision-making and healthcare delivery in primary care settings.
• Further field trials in PHCs are recommended to validate its effectiveness in real-world settings.