Barriers and facilitators to implementation of point-of-care lung ultrasonography in a tertiary centre in Benin: a qualitative study among general physicians and pneumologists

Objectives Owing to its ease-of-use and excellent diagnostic performance for the assessment of respiratory symptoms, point-of-care lung ultrasound (POC-LUS) has emerged as an attractive skill in resource-low settings, where limited access to specialist care and inconsistent radiology services erode health equity. To narrow down the research to practice gap, this study aims to gain in-depth insights in the perceptions on POC-LUS and computer-assisted POC-LUS for the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in a low-income and middle-income country (LMIC) of sub-Saharan Africa. Design and setting Qualitative study using face-to-face semi-structured interviews with three pneumologists and five general physicians in a tertiary centre for pneumology and tuberculosis in Benin, West Africa. The center hosts a prospective cohort study on the diagnostic performance of POC-LUS for LRTI. In this context, all participants started a POC-LUS training programme 6 months before the current study. Transcripts were coded by the interviewer, checked for intercoder reliability by an independent psychologist, compared and thematically summarised according to grounded theory methods. Results Various barriers- and facilitators+ to POC-LUS implementation were identified related to four principal categories: (1) hospital setting (eg, lack of resources for device renewal or maintenance-, need for POC tests+), (2) physician's perceptions (eg, lack of opportunity to practice-, willingness to appropriate the technique+), (3) tool characteristics (eg, unclear lifespan-, expedited diagnosis+) and (4) patient's experience (no analogous image to keep-, reduction in costs+). Furthermore, all interviewees had positive attitudes towards computer-assisted POC-LUS. Conclusions There is a clear need for POC affordable lung imaging techniques in LMIC and physicians are willing to implement POC-LUS to optimise the diagnostic approach of LRTI with an affordable tool. Successful integration of POC-LUS into clinical routine will require adequate responses to local challenges related to the lack of available maintenance resources and limited opportunity to supervised practice for physicians.