Objective: The study assessed the effectiveness of a capacity development training program in improving the diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) by healthcare professionals

Background: Parkinson’s Patients Support Organization Ethiopia (PPSO-E) has provided capacity-building training for 824 health professionals (physicians, nurses, health officers, and health extension workers) over a span of four years, from 2019 to 2023, to enhance their knowledge and skills in the diagnosis and effective management of PD

Method: A facility based cross-sectional study design was used at three hospitals. The study used mixed method data collection approaches. Relevant quantitative data such as the number of PD cases reported by the health facilities in the past four years was generated from the national District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) at MOH. Qualitative data was collected using focus group discussions and key informant interviews. For the quantitative data, descriptive statistical analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics to summarize and describe the data. Qualitative data analysis followed a thematic analysis approach involving a hybrid coding approach

Results: A total of 398 newly diagnosed PD cases were reported from three hospitals (St. Paul, Tikur Anbessa, and Zewditu Memorial hospitals). This represents a 171.6% increase in the total number of PD cases over the past four years (from 232 in 2019 to 630 in 2023). The increase can be attributed to the various project activities implemented over the past four years, including community awareness-raising interventions and capacity building trainings provided to health professionals. The observed increase in newly diagnosed PD cases is further supported by findings obtained through interviews and focus group discussions. The findings provided an important insight on the impact of the interventions on PD diagnosis timelines, highlighting a potential difference compared to the time from four years ago.

Conclusion: The study suggested the effectiveness of the training program in improving the healthcare professionals’ ability to diagnose PD. Increased awareness, knowledge, and skills led to a significant rise in diagnosed cases. This highlights the importance of ongoing training programs to improve PD diagnosis capacity in the country.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/boosting-parkinsons-disease-diagnosis-how-training-ethiopian-healthcare-workers-and-enhancing-community-level-awareness-led-to-a-surge-in-case-identification/