Pharmacy-based hypertension care employing mHealth in Lagos, Nigeria - a mixed methods feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Access to quality hypertension care is often poor in sub-Saharan Africa. Some community pharmacies offer hypertension monitoring services, with and without involvement of medical doctors. To directly connect pharmacy staff and cardiologists a care model including a mobile application (mHealth) for remote patient monitoring was implemented and pilot tested in Lagos, Nigeria. Pharmacists provided blood pressure measurements and counselling. Cardiologists enrolled patients in the pilot program and remotely monitored them, for which patients paid a monthly fee. We evaluated the feasibility of this care model at five private community pharmacies. Outcome measures were retention in care, blood pressure change, quality of care, and patients' and healthcare providers' satisfaction with the care model. METHODS: Patients participated in the care model's pilot at one of the five pharmacies for approximately 6-8 months from February 2016. We conducted structured patient interviews and blood pressure measurements at pilot entry and exit, and used exports of the mHealth-application, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with patients, pharmacists and cardiologists. RESULTS: Of 336 enrolled patients, 236 (72%) were interviewed at pilot entry and exit. According to the mHealth data 71% returned to the pharmacy after enrollment, with 3.3 months (IQR: 2.2-5.4) median duration of activity in the mHealth-application. Patients self-reported more visits than recorded in the mHealth data. Pharmacists mentioned use of paper records, understaffing, the application not being user-friendly, and patients' unwillingness to pay as reasons for underreporting. Mean systolic blood pressure decreased 9.9 mmHg (SD: 18). Blood pressure on target increased from 24 to 56% and an additional 10% had an improved blood pressure at endline, however this was not associated with duration of mHealth activity. Patients were satisfied because of accessibility, attention, adherence and information provision. CONCLUSION: Patients, pharmacists and cardiologists adopted the care model, albeit with gaps in mHealth data. Most patients were satisfied, and their mean blood pressure significantly reduced. Usage of the mHealth application, pharmacy incentives, and a modified financing model are opportunities for improvement. In addition, costs of implementation and availability of involved healthcare providers need to be investigated before such a care model can be further implemented.

The prominent role of informal medicine vendors despite health insurance: a weekly diaries study in rural Nigeria.

In sub-Saharan Africa, accessibility to affordable quality care is often poor and health expenditures are mostly paid out of pocket. Health insurance, protecting individuals from out-of-pocket health expenses, has been put forward as a means of enhancing universal health coverage. We explored the utilization of different types of healthcare providers and the factors associated with provider choice by insurance status in rural Nigeria. We analysed year-long weekly health diaries on illnesses and injuries (health episodes) for a sample of 920 individuals with access to a private subsidized health insurance programme. The weekly diaries capture not only catastrophic events but also less severe events that are likely underreported in surveys with longer recall periods. Individuals had insurance coverage during 34% of the 1761 reported health episodes, and they consulted a healthcare provider in 90% of the episodes. Multivariable multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that insurance coverage was associated with significantly higher utilization of formal health care: individuals consulted upgraded insurance programme facilities in 20% of insured episodes compared with 3% of uninsured episodes. Nonetheless, regardless of insurance status, most consultations involved an informal provider visit, with informal providers encompassing 73 and 78% of all consultations among insured and uninsured episodes, respectively, and individuals spending 54% of total annual out-of-pocket health expenditures at such providers. Given the high frequency at which individuals consult informal providers, their position within both the primary healthcare system and health insurance schemes should be reconsidered to reach universal health coverage.

Patients' and healthcare providers' perceptions and practices regarding hypertension, pharmacy-based care, and mHealth in Lagos, Nigeria: a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: In sub-Saharan Africa, cardiovascular disease is becoming a leading cause of death, with high blood pressure as number one risk factor. In Nigeria, access and adherence to hypertension care are poor. A pharmacy-based hypertension care model with remote monitoring by cardiologists through mHealth was piloted in Lagos to increase accessibility to quality care for hypertensive patients. OBJECTIVES: To describe patients' and healthcare providers' perceptions and practices regarding hypertension, pharmacy-based care, and mHealth and explore how this information may improve innovative hypertension service delivery. METHODS: This study consisted of observations of patient-pharmacy staff interactions and hypertension care provided, four focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with 30 hypertensive patients, nine community pharmacists, and six cardiologists, and structured interviews with 328 patients. RESULTS: Most patients were knowledgeable about biomedical causes and treatment of hypertension, but often ignorant about the silent character of hypertension. Reasons mentioned for not adhering to treatment were side effects, financial constraints, lack of health insurance, and cultural or religious reasons. Pharmacists additionally mentioned competition with informal, cheaper healthcare providers. Patients highly favored pharmacy-based care, because of the pharmacist-patient relationship, accessibility, small-scale, and a pharmacy's registration at an association. The majority of respondents were positive towards mHealth. CONCLUSION: Facilitating factors for innovative pharmacy-based hypertension care were: patients' biomedical perceptions, pharmacies' strong position in the community, and respondents' positive attitude towards mHealth. We recommend health education and strengthening pharmacists' role to address barriers, such as misperceptions that hypertension always is symptomatic, treatment nonadherence, and unfamiliarity with mHealth. Future collaboration with insurance providers or other financing mechanisms may help diminish patients' financial barriers to appropriate hypertension treatment.

Costs of cardiovascular disease prevention care and scenarios for cost saving: a micro-costing study from rural Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the costs of cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention care according to international guidelines, in a primary healthcare clinic in rural Nigeria, participating in a health insurance programme. METHODS: A micro-costing study was conducted from a healthcare provider perspective. Activities per patient per year (e.g., consultations, diagnostic tests) were based on clinical practice in the study clinic. Direct (e.g., staff, drugs) and indirect cost items (overheads) for each activity were measured. A cohort study, patient and staff observations, and interviews in the study clinic provided patient resource utilization data. Univariate sensitivity analyses were performed. Scenario analyses evaluated cost-saving options. The main outcome was the costs of CVD prevention care per patient per year. RESULTS: The costs of CVD prevention care were United States dollars (USD) 144 (range 130-158) per patient per year. Direct costs were USD 82 and indirect costs were USD 62. The main cost drivers were drugs (USD 39) and diagnostic tests (USD 36). The costs of hypertension care were USD 118 (107-132) and that of diabetes care USD 263 (236-289) per patient per year. A combination of task-shifting from doctors to nurses, reduction of appointment frequencies, and minimal organ damage screening would result in a direct cost reduction of 42%. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to report the costs of CVD prevention care in sub-Saharan Africa, based on prospectively collected operational data. The costs observed in our study are unaffordable in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the need for innovative financing mechanisms to fund CVD prevention care.

Improving Maternal Care through a State-Wide Health Insurance Program: A Cost and Cost-Effectiveness Study in Rural Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: While the Nigerian government has made progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, further investments are needed to achieve the targets of post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, including Universal Health Coverage. Economic evaluations of innovative interventions can help inform investment decisions in resource-constrained settings. We aim to assess the cost and cost-effectiveness of maternal care provided within the new Kwara State Health Insurance program (KSHI) in rural Nigeria. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used a decision analytic model to simulate a cohort of pregnant women. The primary outcome is the incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) of the KSHI scenario compared to the current standard of care. Intervention cost from a healthcare provider perspective included service delivery costs and above-service level costs; these were evaluated in a participating hospital and using financial records from the managing organisations, respectively. Standard of care costs from a provider perspective were derived from the literature using an ingredient approach. We generated 95% credibility intervals around the primary outcome through probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) based on a Monte Carlo simulation. We conducted one-way sensitivity analyses across key model parameters and assessed the sensitivity of our results to the performance of the base case separately through a scenario analysis. Finally, we assessed the sustainability and feasibility of this program's scale up within the State's healthcare financing structure through a budget impact analysis. The KSHI scenario results in a health benefit to patients at a higher cost compared to the base case. The mean ICER (US$46.4/disability-adjusted life year averted) is considered very cost-effective compared to a willingness-to-pay threshold of one gross domestic product per capita (Nigeria, US$ 2012, 2,730). Our conclusion was robust to uncertainty in parameters estimates (PSA: median US$49.1, 95% credible interval 21.9-152.3), during one-way sensitivity analyses, and when cost, quality, cost and utilization parameters of the base case scenario were changed. The sustainability of this program's scale up by the State is dependent on further investments in healthcare. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that the investment made by the KSHI program in rural Nigeria is likely to have been cost-effective; however, further healthcare investments are needed for this program to be successfully expanded within Kwara State. Policy makers should consider supporting financial initiatives to reduce maternal mortality tackling both supply and demand issues in the access to care.

Target organ damage among hypertensive adults in rural Nigeria: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence of target organ damage (TOD) in hypertensive adults in a general population in rural Nigeria, to assess determinants of TOD and the contribution of TOD screening to assess eligibility for antihypertensive treatment. METHODS: All adults diagnosed with hypertension (n=387) and a random sample (n=540) out of all nonhypertensive adults, classified during a household survey in 2009, had a blood pressure measurement and were invited for TOD (myocardial infarction, left ventricular hypertrophy, angina pectoris, kidney disease) screening in 2011. RESULTS: Participation in TOD screening was 51% (n=196) in respondents with hypertension and 33% (n=179) in those without hypertension. TOD prevalence in hypertensive and nonhypertensive adults was 32 and 15%, respectively. Hypertension severity was a strong determinant for TOD [grade 1 odds ratio (OR) 2.66, 95% confidence interval (CI)1.04-6.84; grade 2 OR 3.82, 95% CI 1.41-10.36]. Out of 196 hypertensive patients, 151 were untreated, of whom all grade 2 hypertensive patients (n=71) were eligible for treatment. Screening revealed TOD in 19 out of 80 grade 1 hypertensive respondents (24%), therefore also classifying them as eligible for treatment. TOD screening hypertensive nonrespondents had more severe hypertension than hypertensive respondents, which may have resulted in an underestimation of the true prevalence of TOD among adults with hypertension. CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of 32% TOD in hypertensive adults in rural Nigeria was observed. Almost a quarter of respondents with grade 1 hypertension were eligible for antihypertensive treatment based on TOD screening findings. As TOD screening is mostly unavailable in sub-Saharan Africa, we propose antihypertensive treatment for all patients with hypertension.