Abstract:
Background: Medical equipment are a wide range of instruments, equipment, machinery or
apparatus whether used alone or in combination including the software necessary for the purpose
of diagnosis, prevention, monitoring, treatment, or alleviation of the disease or used for medical
and Para-medical purposes. The importance of proper management of medical equipment has
brought health facility attention. However its management practices are not known in this health
facility .
Objective: To assess medical equipment management practices and related factors in Tulu bolo
general hospital, south west Shoa, central Ethiopia.
Methods: The study was conducted in Tulu bolo general hospital, south west Shoa, central
Ethiopia, from December 13 up to January 2022. Cross-sectional study designs using mixed
quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized. About 199 medical equipment and 156
workers were included. Adapted and pre-tested structured English version checklist for
medical equipment management practices and document review as well as interview guide for
in-depth interview were used for data collection. Data were collected by observation of
availability of medical equipment, interviewing selected core heads in Tulu bolo general
hospital. Data were entered using EPI DATA version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version
23.Data were presented in chi-square and binary logistic regression.
Results: The overall functionality of medical equipment was 57.3%. According to the
respondents finding procurement, utilization and storage were not well practiced. The results
were significant at (P=0.000, B1=1.47, OR =4.349 and CI 95% =2.047-9.241) and (p =0.033,
B2=0.790, OR= 2.203 and CI 95% 1.065-4.556) for procurement and utilization practices
respectively.
Conclusion and Recommendations: The majority of medical equipment in Tulu bolo
general hospital was out of services. Medical equipment management practices like procurement
practice, utilization practices and storage practices were not fully practiced. Lack of training,
spare parts and technicians were among reported reasons for non-functional medical equipment.
Tulu bolo general hospital should follow guide lines like EHSTG and conserve medical
equipment and capacitate the medical equipment users and operating technicians
