Evaluation of a community-based hypertension improvement program (ComHIP) in Ghana: data from a baseline survey.

BACKGROUND: Ghana faces an increasing burden of non-communicable disease with rates of hypertension estimated as high as 36% in adults. Despite these high rates, hypertension control remains very poor in Ghana (4%). The current project aims to implement and evaluate a community-based programme to raise awareness, and to improve treatment and control of hypertension in the Eastern Region of Ghana. In this paper, we present the findings of the baseline cross-sectional survey focusing on hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control. METHODS: To evaluate the ComHIP project, a quasi-experimental design consisted of a before and after evaluations are being implemented in the intervention and comparison districts. A cohort study component is being implemented in the intervention district to assess hypertension control. Background anthropometric and clinical data collected as part of the baseline survey were analyzed in STATA Version 11. We examined the characteristics of individuals, associated with the baseline study outcomes using logistic regression models. RESULTS: We interviewed 2400 respondents (1200 each from the comparison and intervention districts), although final sample sizes after data cleaning were 1170 participants in the comparison district and 1167 in the intervention district. With the exception of ethnicity, the control and intervention districts compare favorably. Overall 32.4% of the study respondents were hypertensive (31.4% in the control site; and 33.4% in the intervention site); 46.2% of hypertensive individuals were aware of a previous diagnosis of hypertension (44.7% in the control site, and 47.7% in the intervention site), and only around 9% of these were being treated in either arm. Hypertension control was 1.3% overall (0.5% in the comparison site, and 2.1% in the intervention site). Age was a predictor of having hypertension, and so was increasing body mass index (BMI), waist, and hip circumferences. After adjusting for age, the risk factors with the greatest association with hypertension were being overweight (aOR = 2.30; 95% CI 1.53-3.46) or obese (aOR = 3.61; 95% CI 2.37-5.51). Older individuals were more likely to be aware of their hypertension status than younger people. After adjusting for age people with a family history of hypertension or CVD, or having an unhealthy waist hip ratio, were more likely to be aware of their hypertension status. CONCLUSIONS: The high burden of hypertension among the studied population, coupled with high awareness, yet very low level of hypertension treatment and control requires in-depth investigation of the bottlenecks to treatment and control. The low hypertension treatment and control rates despite current and previous general educational programs particularly in the intervention district, may suggest that such programs are not necessarily impactful on the health of the population.

Innovating healthcare delivery to address noncommunicable diseases in low-income settings: the example of hypertension.

London Dialogue event, The Hospital Club, 24 Endell St, London, WC2H 9HQ, London, UK, 1 December 2015 Hypertension is a global health issue causing almost 10 million deaths annually, with a disproportionate number occurring in low- and middle-income countries. The condition can be managed effectively, but there is a need for innovation in healthcare delivery to alleviate its burden. This paper presents a number of innovative delivery models from a number of different countries, including Kenya, Ghana, Barbados and India. These models were presented at the London Dialogue event, which was cohosted by the Novartis Foundation and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Centre for Global Noncommunicable Diseases on 1 December 2015. It is argued that these models are applicable not only to hypertension, but provide valuable lessons to address other noncommunicable diseases.

Assessing self-efficacy of frontline providers to perform newborn resuscitation in a low-resource setting.

OBJECTIVES: Newborn deaths comprise an alarming proportion of under-five mortality globally. In this retrospective cohort study, we investigated the effectiveness of focused newborn resuscitation training and delivery of a positive-pressure device in a rural midwife population in a low-resource setting. The present research attempts to better understand the extent to which knowledge and self-efficacy contribute to resuscitation attempts by birth attendants in practice. METHODS: A one-year retrospective cohort analysis was undertaken in Aceh, Indonesia of two groups of community-based midwives, one having received formal training and a positive-pressure resuscitative device and the other receiving usual educational resources and management. A path analysis was undertaken to evaluate relative determinants of actual resuscitation attempts. RESULTS: 348 community-based midwives participated in the evaluation and had attended 3116 births during the preceding year. Path analysis indicated that formal training in resuscitation and delivery of a positive-pressure device were significantly related to both increased knowledge (ß=0.55, p=0.001) and increased self-efficacy (ß=0.52, p=0.001) in performing neonatal resuscitations with a positive-pressure device. However, training impacted actual resuscitation attempts only indirectly through a relationship with self-efficacy and with knowledge. Combined across groups, self-efficacy was significantly associated with positive pressure ventilation attempts (ß=0.26, p<0.01) whereas knowledge was not (ß=-0.05, p=0.39). CONCLUSION: Although, to date, evaluations of newborn resuscitation programs have primarily focused on training and has reported process indicators, these results indicate that in order to improve intrapartum-related hypoxic events ("birth asphyxia"), increased emphasis should be placed on participant self-efficacy and mastery of newborn resuscitation.

Community-based newborn resuscitation among frontline providers in a low-resource country.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a birth asphyxia management program among community midwives in a low-resource rural setting. METHODS: Concise training with provision of positive-pressure ventilation devices was implemented in Indonesia in 2005. The effectiveness of the intervention among community-based midwives between October 2007 and September 2008 was evaluated. The intervention cohort was compared with a neighboring control cohort. RESULTS: Overall, 242 intervention and 106 control midwives were surveyed. In total, 3116 births were attended, 84.0% of deliveries occurred at home, and 97.4% of midwives had not previously owned a resuscitation device. When positive-pressure ventilation was administered, newborn survival on day 1 was equivalent in the 2 cohorts (88.4% versus 84.4%; P=0.66). However, significantly more newborns in the intervention group underwent ventilation (risk ratio 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-8.0). The intervention group had significantly greater scores on both knowledge (t[144.35]=10.52; P<0.001) and confidence (t[134.17]=11.66; P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Focused community-based resuscitation training and device delivery resulted in a significantly increased proportion of newborns receiving life-saving positive-pressure breaths, in addition to improved provider knowledge and confidence. Furthermore, the program demonstrated the establishment of an effective training infrastructure within a disrupted health system.

Designing an early stage prototype using readily available material for a neonatal incubator for poor settings.

A clinical gap remains between the need for and the availability of functioning incubators to address the burden of neonatal mortality in poor settings. Increased referral capacity and demand for facility-based deliveries will necessitate enhanced care capacity. Rapid dysfunction of donated equipment is not only demoralizing to providers and patient families, but also presents a disincentive for timely referral to facilities. We expect a sustainable incubator that meets target clinical needs can serve as a training catalyst for providers to learn aspects along the continuum of newborn care. Many of these skills either do not require or may obviate the need for a newborn to be in such a device. Far from being a competitor to functioning approaches to thermo-regulation in resource-limited settings, a high- functioning and sustainable device targeted for district level hospitals can work collaboratively along the continuum of newborn care. Meeting this need will help ensure survival of imminently preventable causes of childhood mortality.