scholarly journals Information Technology–Assisted Treatment Planning and Performance Assessment for Severe Thalassemia Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Observational Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. e9291
Author(s):  
Rajat Kumar Agarwal ◽  
Amit Sedai ◽  
Kumari Ankita ◽  
Lalith Parmar ◽  
Rakesh Dhanya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Treatment Planning ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Low And Middle Income

scholarly journals Impact of High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Training via Telehealth in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

2020 ◽  
pp. 1803-1812
Author(s):  
Jeremy B. Hatcher ◽  
Oluwadamilola Oladeru ◽  
Betty Chang ◽  
Sameeksha Malhotra ◽  
Megan Mcleod ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dose Rate ◽  
Treatment Planning ◽  
High Dose Rate ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Hdr Brachytherapy ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Radiation Oncologists ◽  
Medical Physicists ◽  
Low And Middle Income

PURPOSE Our objective was to demonstrate the efficacy of a telehealth training course on high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for gynecologic cancer treatment for clinicians in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) METHODS A 12-week course consisting of 16 live video sessions was offered to 10 cancer centers in the Middle East, Africa, and Nepal. A total of 46 participants joined the course, and 22 participants, on average, attended each session. Radiation oncologists and medical physicists from 11 US and international institutions prepared and provided lectures for each topic covered in the course. Confidence surveys of 15 practical competencies were administered to participants before and after the course. Competencies focused on HDR commissioning, shielding, treatment planning, radiobiology, and applicators. Pre- and post-program surveys of provider confidence, measured by 5-point Likert scale, were administered and compared. RESULTS Forty-six participants, including seven chief medical physicists, 16 senior medical physicists, five radiation oncologists, and three dosimetrists, representing nine countries attended education sessions. Reported confidence scores, both aggregate and paired, demonstrated increases in confidence in all 15 competencies. Post-curriculum score improvement was statistically significant ( P < .05) for paired respondents in 11 of 15 domains. Absolute improvements were largest for confidence in applicator commissioning (2.3 to 3.8, P = .009), treatment planning system commissioning (2.2 to 3.9, P = .0055), and commissioning an HDR machine (2.2 to 4.0, P = .0031). Overall confidence in providing HDR brachytherapy services safely and teaching other providers increased from 3.1 to 3.8 and 3.0 to 3.5, respectively. CONCLUSION A 12-week, low-cost telehealth training program on HDR brachytherapy improved confidence in treatment delivery and teaching for clinicians in 10 participating LMICs.

Factors influencing the adoption of SDG reporting by large African and Asian companies

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirreza Kazemikhasragh ◽  
Antonella Francesca Cicchiello ◽  
Maria Cristina Pietronudo
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Low And Middle Income

This article aims to investigate the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by large companies in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa, and the company characteristics that influence them to undertake such new sustainability reporting practices. Logistic regression analyses were applied to combine the data extracted from the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database and the Orbis database from Bureau van Dijk. The empirical results indicate that characteristics like the type of company, its economic performance and its engagement in voluntary sustainability programmes and external assurance are positively related to the adoption of SDG reporting. The results also show that some corporate, organizational and performance characteristics increase companies’ likelihood to adopt SDG reporting. Drawing on agency theory and legitimacy theory perspectives, this article contributes to the academic and practical understanding of factors influencing the adoption of SDG reporting by large companies in Asia and Africa’s low- and middle-income countries.

scholarly journals A ring‐based compensator IMRT system optimized for low‐ and middle‐income countries: Design and treatment planning study

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 3275-3286
Author(s):  
Jonathon Van Schelt ◽  
Daniel L. Smith ◽  
Nicholas Fong ◽  
Dolla Toomeh ◽  
Patricia A. Sponseller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Planning ◽  
Planning Study ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Cross-country income variations and inclusive financing

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nabeel Safdar ◽  
Tian Lin ◽  
Saba Amin
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
High Income ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Purpose This study, a symposium, aims to explore the determinants of financial inclusion, impact of cross-country income-variations on financial inclusion, do high-income countries really uplift the financial inclusion and does the higher financial inclusion index indicate the larger economy? Design/methodology/approach This study adopts the panel data model to investigate the impact of high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries on financial inclusion. However, this study further adopts the principal component analysis rather than Sarma’s approach to calculate the financial inclusion index. Findings Based on the Data of World Bank, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Development Indicators, this study concludes that there is no nexus between income variations and financial inclusion, as the study reveals that some low- and middle-income countries have greater financial inclusion index such as Thailand (2.8538FII), Brazil (1.9526FII) and Turkey (0.8582FII). In low- and middle-income countries, the gross domestic product per capita, information technology and communication, the rule of law, age dependency ratio and urbanization have a noteworthy impact on financial inclusion that accumulatively describe the 83% of the model. Whereas, in high-income countries, merely, information technology and urbanization have a substantial influence on the growth of financial revolution and financial inclusion that describes the 70% of the total. Research limitations/implications The biggest limitation is the availability of data from different countries. Originality/value The originality of this paper is its technique, which is used in this paper to calculate the financial inclusion index. Furthermore, this study contributes to 40 different countries based on income, which could help to boost financial inclusion, and ultimately, it leads them toward economic growth.

scholarly journals Information Technology–Assisted Treatment Planning and Performance Assessment for Severe Thalassemia Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Observational Study (Preprint)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajat Kumar Agarwal ◽  
Amit Sedai ◽  
Kumari Ankita ◽  
Lalith Parmar ◽  
Rakesh Dhanya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Spleen Size ◽  
Liver Size ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Effective Delivery ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Successful models of information and communication technology (ICT) applied to cost-effective delivery of quality care in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are an increasing necessity. Severe thalassemia is one of the most common life-threatening noncommunicable diseases of children globally. OBJECTIVE The aim was to study the impact of ICT on quality of care for severe thalassemia patients in LMIC. METHODS A total of 1110 patients with severe thalassemia from five centers in India were followed over a 1-year period. The impact of consistent use of a Web-based platform designed to assist comprehensive management of severe thalassemia (ThalCare) on key indicators of quality of care such as minimum (pretransfusion) hemoglobin, serum ferritin, liver size, and spleen size were assessed. RESULTS Overall improvements in initial hemoglobin, ferritin, and liver and spleen size were significant (P<.001 for each). For four centers, the improvement in mean pretransfusion hemoglobin level was statistically significant (P<.001). Four of five centers achieved reduction in mean ferritin levels, with two displaying a significant drop in ferritin (P=.004 and P<.001). One of the five centers did not record liver and spleen size on palpation, but of the remaining four centers, two witnessed a large drop in liver and spleen size (P<.01), one witnessed moderate drop (P=.05 for liver; P=.03 for spleen size), while the fourth witnessed a moderate increase in liver size (P=.08) and insignificant change in spleen size (P=.12). CONCLUSIONS Implementation of computer-assisted treatment planning and performance assessment consistently and positively impacted indexes reflecting effective delivery of care to patients suffering from severe thalassemia in LMIC.

SU-F-T-423: Automating Treatment Planning for Cervical Cancer in Low- and Middle- Income Countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (6Part19) ◽  
pp. 3560-3560 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Kisling ◽  
L Zhang ◽  
J Yang ◽  
A Jhingran ◽  
P Balter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cervical Cancer ◽  
Treatment Planning ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income
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