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A retrospective analysis of oxygen concentrator maintenance needs and costs in a low-resource setting: experience from The Gambia

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Abstract

Oxygen is an essential medicine for the treatment of pneumonia, the leading cause of death in children under five worldwide. Yet, providing a sufficient and reliable supply of oxygen is a major challenge for many health facilities in the developing world, particularly in paediatric care units. The cost-effectiveness of oxygen concentrators versus compressed gas cylinders as a source of oxygen in low-resource health facilities has been demonstrated, but evidence of their long-term functionality is scarce. The Biomedical Engineering Department at the Medical Research Council Unit in The Gambia manages and maintains 27 oxygen concentrators at several sites across the country, and has kept electronic records of all preventive maintenance checks and repairs on these devices since 2006. Through a retrospective analysis of these maintenance records, the objective of this study was to assess the long-term reliability and maintenance needs of oxygen concentrators in a low-income setting with biomedical engineering technologist support. We found that the majority of concentrator repairs are low-cost and require a low experience level to complete. We estimate that the useful lifespan of oxygen concentrators in low-resource settings could reasonably exceed 7 years provided a system is in place for routine preventive maintenance. We conclude the paper with additional insights on the broader support ecosystem required to manage and maintain oxygen concentrators in low-resource settings.

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Notes

  1. Age is calculated up until the day a concentrator was retired, was identified as missing, or Aug 14, 2013 – whichever is earliest

  2. This includes all 23 CMs, which were assumed to be same-day repairs (i.e., resolved on the day the PM was completed).

  3. Note that the average valve cost was US $5.44 but for some repairs, two or more valves were replaced, increasing the average cost per repair.

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Acknowledgments

The members of the biomedical engineering department at the MRC, especially Lamin Gassama and Babucarr Sissoko, are gratefully acknowledged for their support and cooperation with data collection activities for this study. Amie Ceesay from the MRC purchasing department is acknowledged for her assistance in collecting relevant costing data for concentrator-related purchases.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Global Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Beverly D. Bradley, Samantha Chow & Yu-Ling Cheng

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Beverly D. Bradley & Yu-Ling Cheng

  3. Biomedical Engineering Department, Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia, Fajara, The Gambia

    Ebrima Nyassi

  4. Ashdown Consultants, East Sussex, UK

    David Peel

  5. Child Survival Theme, Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia, Fajara, The Gambia

    Stephen R. C. Howie

Authors
  1. Beverly D. Bradley
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  2. Samantha Chow
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  3. Ebrima Nyassi
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  4. Yu-Ling Cheng
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  5. David Peel
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  6. Stephen R. C. Howie
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Correspondence to Beverly D. Bradley.

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Bradley, B.D., Chow, S., Nyassi, E. et al. A retrospective analysis of oxygen concentrator maintenance needs and costs in a low-resource setting: experience from The Gambia. Health Technol. 4, 319–328 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12553-015-0094-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12553-015-0094-2

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