PREVALENCE, TREATMENT AND CONTROL OF HYPERTENSION AMONG TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS AT MOI TEACHING AND REFERRAL HOSPITAL, ELDORET, KENYA.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence, treatment and control of hypertension among type 2 diabetic patients at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) and to determine predictors of blood pressure (BP) control. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Diabetic Outpatient Clinic at MTRH, Eldoret, Kenya. SUBJECTS: Type 2 diabetic patients. INTERVENTIONS: The study collected socio-demographic (age, gender, employment status, monthly income, education level, marital status, cigarette smoking and alcohol use), clinical (BP, weight, height and waist circumference) and laboratory (serum fasting lipids and creatinine, urine proteins) data from type 2 diabetic patients. Good BP control was defined as < 130mmHg systolic and < 80mmHg diastolic. Association between BP control and social demographic, clinical and laboratory variables of study subjects was determined using the chi-square, T-test, fisher's exact test and logistic regression. RESULTS: We studied 218 type 2 diabetics: mean age 57 ± 9 years; 122 (56%) were females. Average duration of diabetes was 11 ± 7 years. Prevalence of hypertension was 185/218 (85%) out of who 40 (21%) had good BP control. Average duration of hypertension was 7 ± 5 years. Of the 185 hypertensive diabetics: 92 (50%) had total cholesterol at goal; 102 (55%) had low density lipoproteins (LDL) at goal; 74 (40%) had triglycerides at goal; 65 (35%) had high density lipoprotein (HDL) at goal and 85(45%) had Proteinuria. All hypertensive patients had > 1 anti-hypertensive agent prescribed. Good BP control was associated with compliance to anti-hypertensives (OR = 0.342, 95% CI: 0.105- 1.432) and having HDL at goal (OR = 0.247, 95% CI: 0.126-0.845). Poor BP control was associated with a higher number of prescribed anti-hypertensive agents (OR = 1.377, 95% CI: 1.112- 2.302). CONCLUSION: Prevalence of hypertension among type 2 diabetic patients in MTRH is high and BP control is poor despite anti-hypertensive treatment. Significant predictors of BP control include compliance to anti-hypertensives and control of HDL.

Risk factors for death in HIV-infected adult African patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To determine risk factors for death in HIV-infected African patients on anti-retroviral therapy (ART). DESIGN: Retrospective Case-control study. SETTING: The MOH-USAID-AMPATH Partnership ambulatory HIV-care clinics in western Kenya. RESULTS: Between November 2001 and December 2005 demographic, clinical and laboratory data from 527 deceased and 1054 living patients receiving ART were compared to determine independent risk factors for death. Median age at ART initiation was 38 versus 36 years for the deceased and living patients respectively (p<0.0148). Median time from enrollment at AMPATH to initiation of ART was two weeks for both groups while median time on ART was eight weeks for the deceased and fourty two weeks for the living (p<0.0001). Patients with CD4 cell counts <100/mm3 were more likely to die than those with counts >100/mm3 (HR=1.553. 95% CI (1.156, 2.087), p<0.003). Patients attending rural clinics had threefold higher risk of dying compared to patients attending clinic at a tertiary referral hospital (p<0.0001). Two years after initiating treatment fifty percent of non-adherent patients were alive compared to 75% of adherent patients. Male gender, WHO Stage and haemoglobin level <10 grams% were associated with time to death while age, marital status, educational level, employment status and weight were not. CONCLUSION: Profoundly immunosuppressed patients were more likely to die early in the course of treatment. Also, patients receiving care in rural clinics were at greater risk of dying than those receiving care in the tertiary referral hospital.

Causes of delay in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients attending a referral hospital in Western Kenya.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the length of delays from onset of symptoms to initiation of treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Chest/TB clinic, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret, Kenya. SUBJECTS: Newly diagnosed smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients. RESULTS: Two hundred and thirty patients aged between 12 and 80 (median; 28.5) years were included in the study. They comprised 148 (64.3%, median 30 years) males and 82 (35.7%, median 28 years) females. One hundred and two (44%) came from urban and 128 (56%) came from rural setting covering a median distance of 10 (range 0-100) kilometres and paying Kshs 20 (range 0-200) to facility. Cough was the commonest symptom reported by 228 (99.1%) of the patients followed by chest pain in 214 (80%). The mean patient delay was 11 +/- 17 weeks (range: 1-78 weeks) with no significant difference between males and females, the mean system delay was 3 +/- 5 weeks (range: 0-39 weeks). The median patient, health systems and total delays were 42, 2, and 44 days respectively for all the patients. Marital status, being knowledgeable about TB, distance to clinic and where help is sought first had significant effect on patient delay. CONCLUSION: Patient delay is the major contributor to delay in diagnosis and initiation of treatment of PTB among our patients. Therefore TB control programmes in this region must emphasise patient education regarding symptoms of tuberculosis and timely health seeking behaviour.

Characteristics of HIV infected patients cared for at "academic model for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS" clinics in western Kenya.

BACKGROUND: With the new initiatives to treat large numbers of HIV infected individuals in sub-Saharan Africa, policy makers require accurate estimates of the numbers and characteristics of patients likely to seek treatment in these countries. OBJECTIVE: To describe characteristics of adults receiving care in two Kenyan public HIV clinics. DESIGN: Cross-sectional cohort analysis of data extracted from an electronic medical records system. SETTING: Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS (AMPATH) HIV clinics in Kenya's second national referral (urban) hospital and a nearby rural health center. SUBJECTS: Adult patients presenting for care at HIV clinics. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Gender and inter-clinic stratified comparisons of demographic, clinical, and treatment data. RESULTS: In the first nineteen months, 790 adults visited the urban clinic and 294 the rural clinic. Mean age was 36 +/- 9 (SD) years. Two-thirds were women; a quarter had spouses who had died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV/AIDS behavioural risk factors (multiple sexual partners, rare condom use) and constitutional symptoms (fatigue, weight loss, cough, fever, chills) were common. Rural patients had more symptoms and less prior and current tuberculosis. Men more commonly presented with symptoms than women. The cohort CD4 count was low (223 +/- 197 mm3), with men having significantly lower CD4 count than women (185 +/- 175 vs. 242 +/- 205 p = 0.0007). Eighteen percent had an infiltrate on chest radiograph. Five percent (most often men) had received prior antiretroviral drug therapy, (7% in urban and 1% in rural patients, p = 0.0006). Overall, 393 (36%) received antiretroviral drugs, 89% the combination of lamivudine, stavudine, and nevirapine. Half received prophylaxis for tuberculosis and Pneumocystis jirovecii. Men were sicker and more often received antiretroviral drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Patients presenting to two Kenyan HIV clinics were predominantly female, ill and naive to retroviral therapy with substantial differences by clinic site and gender. Behavioural risk factors for HIV/AIDS were common. A thorough understanding of clinical and behavioural characteristics can help target prevention and treatment strategies.