14th ICID - Poster Abstracts - International Society for Infectious ...

When citing these abstracts please use the following reference:
Author(s) of abstract. Title of abstract [abstract]. Int J Infect Dis 2010;14S1: Abstract number.
Please note that the official publication of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases 2010, Volume 14, Supplement 1
is available electronically on http://www.sciencedirect.com
Final Abstract Number: 28.025
Session: Influenza
Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Time: 12:30-13:30
Room: Poster & Exhibition Area/Ground Level
Type: Poster Presentation
How was the telephone consultation service perceived by the officers who provided it in Japan
during swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) outbreak? A qualitative study
K. Iwata 1 , C. Shirai 2
1 Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, 2 Kobe City government, Kobe, Hyoto, Japan
Background: For the preparation of pandemic influenza, Japan's government requested to set
up telephone consultation service at each prerfectual and city government. During the initial
period of swine origin influenza A (H1N1) outbreak in Japan, the telephone consultation service
received a great number of calls. However, the effectiveness of this system had not been
evaluated. This study reports the result of a qualitative study, which explored officers who
provided the telephone consultation system during influenza outbreak.
Methods: A qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews (n=3), was conducted to the
officers of a major city government in Japan, who provided the service. Theory construction was
conducted with a use of M-GTA and SCQRM (structure construction qualitative research
method).
Results: Many difficulties were expressed by the officers during the outbreak. The uncertainty of
the disease characteristics, rapidly changing situation, fear of bad outcome of patients due to
wrong triage, and miscommunications among health care workers were among the difficulties
extracted. While inefficiency was one of the problems extracted, lessening health care burden by
triaging patients was one of the achievement they felt the telephone service provided.
Development of a practical manual made their provision of service easier.
Conclusion: Various aspects of the telephone consultation service during swine origin influenza
A outbreak were extracted through the interview. Perception of the officers helped to understand
the effectiveness and shortcomings of the telephone consultation service, which may lead to
further improvement of it.