Data collection methods and processes
| Method | Tool description | Data collection/data processing |
| Contextual analysis | Compile background information on the socio-political, humanitarian and health-system factors and considerations that influence the relevance of the WHO-NCDK to the setting | A brief and cursory literature review of NCD-related research was conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed. Information about the health system came from various WHO documentation |
| Key informant interviews | Semistructured interviews for collecting general information on the relevance of the WHO-NCDK. Different guides were used for interviews with health facility managers and other stakeholders | Interviews were recorded and transcribed for analysis. A qualitative analysis was conducted using a theoretical framework to organise quotations from the interviews. The thematic analysis was organised to capture the following themes: NCD burden, diagnosis, drugs/equipment, staff and training, guidelines, kit logistics, kit impact on quality-of-care and future plans for NCD care |
| Health facility assessment | Survey to collect information around the health system infrastructure and availability of services | Data were collected retrospectively, after the kit had been used for approximately 20 months, through observations and interviews with health facility staff |
| Medication supplies—general | Survey to collect supply chain information to assess whether the WHO-NCDK were received and stored appropriately | Data were collected retrospectively, after the kit had been used for approximately 20 months, through observations and interviews with health facility staff |
| Medication supplies—stock list | Survey to collect information on the WHO-NCDK effectiveness in improving the capacity to manage NCDs and to calculate the remaining kit contents | An IRC consultant in Sudan recorded the inventory at each facility. The inventories included 23 medications and 14 supplies and equipment included in the WHO-NCDK. In addition, the tool aimed to assess eight supplies and equipment that are not covered by the WHO-NCDK as well as seven additional essential pharmaceutical classes for NCDs*—actual quantities were collected, availability of pipeline stocks, average monthly consumption rates and the number of occasions where a facility experienced stock-out for seven consecutive days (during the last 90 days before the evaluation day) |
| Clinical staff survey | Survey to collect background information with three sections to assess (1) general professional background, (2) perceptions around NCD management and the challenges therein, (3) knowledge and operationalisation of the WHO-NCDK | A short multiple-choice survey with open-ended questions was self-administered on paper to healthcare workers managing NCDs. The survey was administered in English |
| Quality-of-Care (QoC) | Patient record auditing tool to assess the quality of patients’ records and gauge the QoC offered | A random sample of patient charts was systematically screened using a standardised tool. This tool included criteria for identifying patients who had received outpatient consultations for hypertension, diabetes, asthma, COPD and/or epilepsy within the preceding 90 days. In addition, the tool assessed whether the patients’ disease control biomarkers were accurately recorded and identifiable within their charts |
*Additional screened items included (defibrillators, ECG machines, nebulisers, full oxygen cylinders, pulse oximeters, spacer devices for inhalers, visual acuity charts, and weighing machines) for equipment and supplies, and (statins, general opiates, sympathomimetic agents, antihypertensives, anticoagulants, general anti-anxiety medications and anticholinergics) for other pharmaceutical classes/medicines not included in the 2016 version of the WHO-NCDK.
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; IRC, International Rescue Committee; NCD, non-communicable disease; WHO-NCDK, World Health Organization Non-Communicable Diseases Kit.