Practice of Regional Anesthesia and its Associated Factors among Anesthesia Professionals Working in Government Teaching Referral Hospitals of Ethiopia Running Postgraduate Anesthesia Programs; An institutional based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Regional anesthesia (RA) provides site specific, complete pain relief, early mobilization and rehabilitation; and is preferred than general anesthesia due to its associated risks. It also ensures prolonged analgesia while reducing the need for systemic drugs with their side effects. Despite these advantages, the techniques have not been embraced as alternatives to general anesthesia in Ethiopia. Objective: To assess the magnitude of regional anesthesia practice and its associated factors among anesthesia care providers (ACPs) working in Ethiopian government teaching referral hospitals running postgraduate anesthesia program, 2019. Materials and methods: An institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among all ACPs working in the selected institutions (Jimma Medical Center, Black Lion hospital and Wolaita Sodo teaching referral hospital) which were randomly selected among six government teaching referral hospitals; from August 1-September 1, 2019. Data were entered into [EpiData] manager version 4.3 and exported to SPSS for further analysis. Descriptive statistics were done to summarize descriptive data. Bivariate logistic regression was done to select candidate variable for multivariable logistic regression. Those variables with p-value < 0.25 were taken as a candidate for the final model. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of regional anesthesia practice among anesthesia professional. Adjusted odds ratio and 95% CI interval were used to measure association and statistical significance respectively.95% CI was used to declare statistical significance. Results: A total of 143 anesthesia professionals participated in the study making the response rate 90%. The mean age of the study participants was 30.77±7.049 year that ranges from 22-56 years. Majority of them, are male predominance 88(67.7%), were<30 years 86(66.2%, 47 (36.2%) were BSc anesthetists, had 1 to 5 years of experience70 (53.8%) and 64(49.2%) had been working at BLH. The practice of RA among ACPs was 59.2% from which the top performed types of RA were SA (98.5%), CA (72.3%) and axillary block (69.2%) while Sub gluteal sciatic block and IV RA were the least used (8.5% each) types RA. Finally 2 variables (years of experience and academic qualification) were identified as the independent predictors of RA practice among ACPs Conclusion and recommendation: In nutshell practice of RA in teaching government hospitals of Ethiopia was relatively low despite some RA types like SA was almost practiced well. Thus, ACPs were expected to practice all types of RA in reference to routinely abusing GA for patient safety and welfare in all dimensions.