Jurnal Internasional Afrika vol. 9 issue 1 2019
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Fifteen years of emergency medicine literature in Africa: A scoping review
Dublin Core
Title
Jurnal Internasional Afrika vol. 9 issue 1 2019
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Fifteen years of emergency medicine literature in Africa: A scoping review
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Fifteen years of emergency medicine literature in Africa: A scoping review
Subject
Emergency medicine
EM
Emergency medical services
EMS
Africa
Scoping review
Literature review
EM
Emergency medical services
EMS
Africa
Scoping review
Literature review
Description
Introduction: Emergency medicine (EM) throughout Africa exists in various stages of development. The number
and types of scientific EM literature can serve as a proxy indicator of EM regional development and activity. The
goal of this scoping review is a preliminary assessment of potential size and scope of available African EM
literature published over 15 years.
Methods: We searched five indexed international databases as well as non-indexed grey literature from 1999-
2014 using key search terms including “Africa”, “emergency medicine”, “emergency medical services”, and
“disaster.” Two trained physician reviewers independently assessed whether each article met one or more of five
inclusion criteria, and discordant results were adjudicated by a senior reviewer. Articles were categorised by
subject and country of origin. Publication number per country was normalised by 1,000,000 population.
Results: Of 6091 identified articles, 633 (10.4%) were included. African publications increased 10-fold from
1999 to 2013 (9 to 94 articles, respectively). Western Africa had the highest number (212, 33.5%) per region.
South Africa had the largest number of articles per country (171, 27.0%) followed by Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana.
537 (84.8%) articles pertained to facility-based EM, 188 (29.7%) to out-of-hospital emergency medicine, and
109 (17.2%) to disaster medicine. Predominant content areas were epidemiology (374, 59.1%), EM systems
(321, 50.7%) and clinical care (262, 41.4%). The most common study design was observational (479, 75.7%),
with only 28 (4.4%) interventional studies. All-comers (382, 59.9%) and children (91, 14.1%) were the most
commonly studied patient populations. Undifferentiated (313, 49.4%) and traumatic (180, 28.4%) complaints
were most common.
Conclusion: Our review revealed a considerable increase in the growth of African EM literature from 1999 to
2014. Overwhelmingly, articles were observational, studied all-comers, and focused on undifferentiated complaints.
The articles discovered in this scoping review are reflective of the relatively immature and growing state
of African EM.
and types of scientific EM literature can serve as a proxy indicator of EM regional development and activity. The
goal of this scoping review is a preliminary assessment of potential size and scope of available African EM
literature published over 15 years.
Methods: We searched five indexed international databases as well as non-indexed grey literature from 1999-
2014 using key search terms including “Africa”, “emergency medicine”, “emergency medical services”, and
“disaster.” Two trained physician reviewers independently assessed whether each article met one or more of five
inclusion criteria, and discordant results were adjudicated by a senior reviewer. Articles were categorised by
subject and country of origin. Publication number per country was normalised by 1,000,000 population.
Results: Of 6091 identified articles, 633 (10.4%) were included. African publications increased 10-fold from
1999 to 2013 (9 to 94 articles, respectively). Western Africa had the highest number (212, 33.5%) per region.
South Africa had the largest number of articles per country (171, 27.0%) followed by Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana.
537 (84.8%) articles pertained to facility-based EM, 188 (29.7%) to out-of-hospital emergency medicine, and
109 (17.2%) to disaster medicine. Predominant content areas were epidemiology (374, 59.1%), EM systems
(321, 50.7%) and clinical care (262, 41.4%). The most common study design was observational (479, 75.7%),
with only 28 (4.4%) interventional studies. All-comers (382, 59.9%) and children (91, 14.1%) were the most
commonly studied patient populations. Undifferentiated (313, 49.4%) and traumatic (180, 28.4%) complaints
were most common.
Conclusion: Our review revealed a considerable increase in the growth of African EM literature from 1999 to
2014. Overwhelmingly, articles were observational, studied all-comers, and focused on undifferentiated complaints.
The articles discovered in this scoping review are reflective of the relatively immature and growing state
of African EM.
Creator
Nee-Kofi Mould-Millman, Julia Dixon, Taylor W. Burkholder, Nana Sefa, Hiren Patel, Anna Q. Yaffee, Amarachukwu Osisanya, Tolulope Oyewumi, Isaac Botchey Jr. Maxwell Osei-Ampofo, Hendry Sawe, Jay Lemery, Tracy Cushing, Lee A. Wallis
Source
www.elsevier.com/locate/afjem
Publisher
AFEM
Date
4 January 2019
Contributor
PERI IRAWAN
Format
PDF
Language
ENGLISH
Type
TEXT
Files
Citation
Nee-Kofi Mould-Millman, Julia Dixon, Taylor W. Burkholder, Nana Sefa, Hiren Patel, Anna Q. Yaffee, Amarachukwu Osisanya, Tolulope Oyewumi, Isaac Botchey Jr. Maxwell Osei-Ampofo, Hendry Sawe, Jay Lemery, Tracy Cushing, Lee A. Wallis, “Jurnal Internasional Afrika vol. 9 issue 1 2019
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Fifteen years of emergency medicine literature in Africa: A scoping review,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed February 5, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2375.
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Fifteen years of emergency medicine literature in Africa: A scoping review,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed February 5, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2375.