Title :
Designing a digital anthropometric measurement system for hospitals in Malawi
Author :
Edwards, Matthew John
Author_Institution :
Parsons - The New Sch. for Design, New York, NY
Abstract :
Accurate anthropometric measurements are a critical component of healthcare. Errors in reading or recording measurements compromise quality of care. Through a suite of simple technologies described here, a Malawi-based NGO, Baobab Health Partnership, is electronically measuring and recording potentially malnourished children´s middle-upper arm circumference (MUAC). This data is quickly and reliably stored in a clinical database using a bar-code scanner connected to their touchscreen-based clinical workstation appliances. The author hypothesizes that, by doing this, fewer errors in measurement and transcription will arise. In addition, health-care providers will have access to cumulative, permanent patient measurement histories.
Keywords :
anthropometry; biomedical equipment; biomedical measurement; health care; measurement errors; medical computing; Baobab Health Partnership; Malawi; bar-code scanner; clinical database; digital anthropometric measurement system; healthcare; measurement error; middle-upper arm circumference; patient measurement; quality-of-care; touchscreen-based clinical workstation appliances; MUAC; Malawi; bar-code; malnutrition;
Conference_Titel :
Appropriate Healthcare Technologies for Developing Countries, 2008. AHT 2008. 5th IET Seminar on
Conference_Location :
London
Print_ISBN :
978-0-86341-916-4