Browsing by Author "Dambi, Jermaine Matewu"

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    Open Access
    A comparison of hospital-based and community-based models of cerebral palsy rehabilitation
    (2013) Dambi, Jermaine Matewu; Jelsma, Jennifer
    Cerebral palsy is a disabling and permanent condition which requires sustained rehabilitation over a long period of time. There is much debate as to which model of service delivery is most appropriate for children with cerebral palsy and their mothers. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and effectiveness of two models of service delivery currently offered in Harare, Zimbabwe. One of these is a hospital-based and the other a community-based service. A quasi-experimental study was done to determine the efficacy of two service delivery models from the perspective of caregivers and functional gains in children. Questionnaires were distributed to caregivers of children with CP at baseline and after three months. The caregivers were 46 in total, with twenty caregivers having children receiving rehabilitation services under an outreach program and 26 receiving services as outpatients at a central hospital. The caregivers’ health- related quality of life was assessed using the EQ-5D, the burden of care was measured using the Caregiver Strain Index, satisfaction with physiotherapy was assessed using the modified Medrisk satisfaction with physiotherapy services questionnaire and compliance was measured as an index of the met appointments from the scheduled appointments. Additionally, motor functional changes in children with CP were assessed at baseline and after three months using the Gross Motor Function Measurement (GMFM-88). Children receiving community based treatment children were significantly older than children in the hospital based group. However, the two groups were comparable in terms of sociodemographics of both children and caregivers at baseline. The correlation between age and change in score was tested and found to be non-significant (r=-.103, p=.497). Spearman’s rho indicated that as the level of severity increased in terms of GMFCS level, so the amount of improvement decreased (rho=-568, p<;.000). However, as age was significantly different between the two groups and there were more severely affected children in the community based treatment group, regression analysis was done to establish which factors predicted the amount of change in the GMFM Score. Dummy variables were created for the categorical variable of the group and the ordinal variable of GMFCS was dichotomised into level 3 and above and level 4 and below. The resulting model accounted for25% of the variance (adjusted R²= .25) after the score of one child was removed after residual analysis indicated that he/she had improved more than two standard deviations from the mean residual. The results indicate that, once age and category were controlled for, children in the community based treatment group improved 3.5 points more than children receiving hospital based services. Children who were more severely disabled showed 4.7 points less improvement, and for each month of age, children showed .04 less improvement, although this was not significant.
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    Open Access
    Content validity and test-retest reliability of a low back pain questionnaire in Zimbabwean adolescents
    (BioMed Central, 2017-02-28) Chiwaridzo, Matthew; Chikasha, Tafadzwa Nicole; Naidoo, Nirmala; Dambi, Jermaine Matewu; Tadyanemhandu, Cathrine; Munambah, Nyaradzai; Chizanga, Precious Trish
    Background: In Zimbabwe, a recent increase in the volume of research on recurrent non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) has revealed that adolescents are commonly affected. This is alarming to health professionals and parents and calls for serious primary preventative strategies to be developed and implemented forthwith. Early identification initiatives should be prioritised in order to curtail the condition and its progression. In an attempt to be proactive in minimising the prevalence of recurrent NSLBP, this study was conducted to evaluate the content validity and test-retest reliability of a survey questionnaire with the aim of proffering a valid and reliable questionnaire which can be used in non-clinical settings to identify adolescents with recurrent NSLBP in Harare, Zimbabwe and determine the possible factors associated with the condition. Methods: The study was conducted in two parts. The first part assessed content validity of the questionnaire using four experts derived from academia and clinical practice. The second part evaluated the reliability of the questionnaire among 125 high school-children aged between 13 and 19 years in a test-retest study. Results: Twenty-six (26) out of thirty questions in the questionnaire had an Item Content Validity index of 1.00, demonstrating complete agreement among content experts. Overall, the Scale Content Validity Index for the questionnaire was 0.97. Item completion for the reliability study was satisfactory. The questionnaire items had kappa values ranging from 0.17 (slight agreement) to 1 (perfect agreement). High levels of reliability were found for the questions on school bag use (k=0.94), sports participation (k=0.97), and lifetime prevalence (k=0.89). Conclusion: Excellent content validity and slight to perfect test-retest reliability was found for the Low Back Pain (LBP) questionnaire. These results are comparable to findings of other studies evaluating the psychometric properties of LBP questionnaires. Cognisant of the limitations of the study, the results of this study suggest that the LBP questionnaire could be used in local studies investigating LBP among adolescents although questions enquiring on functional limitations and sciatica may need further consideration.
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    Open Access
    Evaluation of the mental health profile of caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in a low-resourced setting: development, translation and validation of patient-reported outcome measures
    (2018) Dambi, Jermaine Matewu; Jelsma, Jennifer; Mlambo, Tecla
    Background & aims: Several systematic reviews have demonstrated that caring for a child with functional limitations leads to poor caregiver mental health outcomes. For instance, depression, anxiety and caregiver burden are endemic in informal (unpaid) caregivers of children with cerebral palsy (CP), a common paediatric disability. However, caregivers who receive an adequate amount of social support are likely to better adjust to the caregiving role. Given the increasing move towards family-centred care and evidence-based care, there is a need to evaluate caregivers’ mental health and to develop and implement context-specific caregiver well-being programs. The valid measurement of the impact of these programs is dependent on the availability of psychometrically robust patient-reported outcomes (PROMs). Unfortunately, most available PROMs have been developed in high-income settings, and their applicability in low-resource settings such as Zimbabwe may be questionable. The present study thus aimed to develop a context-specific caregiver strain outcome, to adapt, translate, and validate a social support outcome measure and finally to profile the mental health of caregivers of children with CP residing in Zimbabwe. Methods: The Zimbabwean Caregiver Challenges Scale (ZCCS) was developed through the amalgamation of findings from a systematic review, caregivers’ interviews and two rounds of content validation by a panel of experts. A systematic review was then undertaken to appraise the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The MSPSS was then adapted, translated into Shona, a Zimbabwean native language, and validated. In the final phase, further validation of the ZCCS and the MSPSS was done, and structural equation modelling was used to profile the mental health profile of caregivers. Results: The ZCCS yielded four factors which were ; physical & economic burden, concerns for the child, family relations and community participation. The ZCCS was found to be a reliable tool as it yielded excellent Internal Consistency (IC) ratings at both sub-scale [α range: 0.765- 0.841] and scale level [α=0.925]. The Interclass Correlation (ICC) (95% CI) for ZCCS scores at baseline and after four weeks was 0.880 (0.793: 0.930), demonstrating the stability of the ZCCS. We replicated the original 3-factor structure of the MSPSS through factor analysis. Further, dichotomisation of scoring options and the deletion of one item resulted in a parsimonious solution as the 11-items solution met Rasch modelling requirements. The MSPSS-Shona version is reliable; it yielded excellent IC ratings at both sub-scale [α range: 0.833-0.892] and scale levels[α=0.8685]. The ICC rating (95% CI) for MSPSS scores at baseline and after four weeks was 0.980 (0.959: 0.990) demonstrating the stability of the MSPSS, and the person separation index (PSI) was 0.731. Both the ZCCS and MSPSS displayed construct validity; higher caregiver burden was associated with greater psychiatric morbidity and lower health related quality of life. Caregivers who received a higher amount of social support had the best mental health outcomes. Further, structural equation modelling provided evidence of the multidimensionality of the caregiver burden. Contextual factors, such as increased child age, increased caregiving duration, lower child functional capacity/more severe CP, and lower socioeconomic status were associated with poor mental health functioning. Conclusion: The thesis contributes to the body of knowledge by documenting the validation of caregivers' mental health outcomes and determination of mental health functioning of caregivers residing in low-resource settings. The ZCSS and MSPSS were both found to be valid and reliable measures within the context of Shona speaking rural and urban Zimbabweans. It is therefore suggested that both measures can be used with confidence in these contexts. Efforts should be made to integrate patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in routine clinical care and research and in developing and implementation of tailor-made caregiver wellness programs, within the validation contexts.