Quality of care for children with severe disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

In this study, we measured quality of care for children with severe disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC is the second largest country in sub-Saharan Africa with an estimated population of 81 million and an under-five mortality rate of 91 deaths per 1000 live births [8].

To assess the quality of care for children with severe disease, we developed a new direct observation approach for under-5 care. Rather than re-assessing the child upon exit [4, 9], we used tablets to collect information on both the diagnostic procedures performed by providers and the disease and symptom information collected by the provider through these procedures. These symptoms and diagnostic test results were then used to classify cases.