A mobile integrated system for enhancing tuberculosis Surveillance in Kenya.

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a huge health problem globally whereby about ten million new cases and million deaths are reported yearly. In Kenya, TB affects a significant population proportion and it remains a key cause of morbidity and mortality. Early detection is considered an efficient intervention measure of TB. This can be achieved through surveillance. However, the available surveillance methods focus on the collection of TB related data and disregards patient notification. These methods are also ineffective in gathering real time data for analysis. The study sought to determine how TB Surveillance is done in Kenya with an aim of improving the current systems through integration of mobile phones to capture TB disease occurrences at the village level. The objectives of the study were to; review the existing status of TB surveillance systems, determine the existing challenges that are faced by TB Surveillance system, establish the requirements for TB surveillance system through a user requirements analysis and develop a mobile integrated prototype system for TB surveillance. The study was anchored on the theory of agents and MAS systems in the development of the prototype. Data was analysed using qualitative methods. This offered a deeper understanding of user requirements that were then used to develop a TB surveillance system using the Prometheus agent design methodology. The system was implemented on PHP, My SQL for database and Java Agent Development Framework for multi-agent platform. The designed MITSS prototype proofed that the medical practitioner can interact with the patient in real-time. Usability and functionality tests were done indicating that the application was an effective surveillance and responsive tool. Finally the study concluded that by determining the major areas of future improvements on the existing system and recommendations for research in future.