Outcomes of decentralizing hypertension care from district hospitals to health centers in Rwanda, 2013-2014.

SETTING: Three district hospitals (DHs) and seven health centers (HCs) in rural Rwanda. OBJECTIVE: To describe follow-up and treatment outcomes in stage 1 and 2 hypertension patients receiving care at HCs closer to home in comparison to patients receiving care at DHs further from home. DESIGN: A retrospective descriptive cohort study using routinely collected data involving adult patients aged ⩾18 years in care at chronic non-communicable disease clinics and receiving treatment for hypertension at DH and HC between 1 January 2013 and 30 June 2014. RESULTS: Of 162 patients included in the analysis, 36.4% were from HCs. Patients at DHs travelled significantly further to receive care (10.4 km vs. 2.9 km for HCs, P < 0.01). Odds of being retained were significantly lower among DH patients when not adjusting for distance (OR 0.11, P = 0.01). The retention effect was consistent but no longer significant when adjusting for distance (OR 0.18, P = 0.10). For those retained, there was no significant difference in achieving blood pressure targets between the DHs and HCs. CONCLUSION: By removing the distance barrier, decentralizing hypertension management to HCs may improve long-term patient retention and could provide similar hypertension outcomes as DHs.

Treating persistent asthma in rural Rwanda: characteristics, management and 24-month outcomes.

SETTING: In 2007, the Rwandan Ministry of Health, with support from Partners In Health, introduced a district-level non-communicable disease programme that included asthma care. OBJECTIVE: To describe the demographics, management and 24-month outcomes of asthma patients treated at three rural district hospitals in Rwanda. DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed electronic medical records of asthma patients enrolled from January 2007 to December 2012, and extracted information on demographics, clinical variables and 24-month outcomes. RESULTS: Of the 354 patients, 66.7% were female and 41.5% were aged between 41 and 60 years. Most patients (53.1%) were enrolled with moderate persistent asthma, 40.1% had mild persistent asthma and 6.8% had severe persistent asthma. Nearly all patients (95.7%) received some type of medication, most commonly a bronchodilator. After 24 months, 272 (76.8%) patients were still alive and in care, 21.1% were lost to follow-up, 1.7% had died and 0.3% had transferred out. Of the 121 patients with an updated asthma classification at 24 months, the severity of their asthma had decreased: 17.4% had moderate and 0.8% had severe persistent asthma. CONCLUSION: Our findings show improvements in asthma severity after 24 months and reasonable rates of loss to follow-up, demonstrating that asthma can be managed effectively in rural, resource-limited settings.

Prevalence of rheumatic valvular heart disease in Rwandan school children: echocardiographic evaluation using the World Heart Federation criteria.

BACKGROUND: Rheumatic fever (RF) and rheumatic valvular heart disease (RHD) remain important medical, surgical and public health concerns in many parts of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there are no published data from Rwanda. We performed a RHD prevalence study in a randomly selected sample of Rwandan school children using the 2012 World Heart Federation (WHF) criteria. METHODS: Echocardiographic assessment of 2 501 Rwandan school children from 10 schools in the Gasabo district near Kigali was carried out. Resulting data were evaluated by four experienced echocardiographers. Statistical analyses were carried out by statisticians. RESULTS: RHD prevalence was 6.8/1 000 children examined (95% CI: 4.2/1 000-10.9/1 000). Seventeen met WHF criteria for RHD, 13 fulfilled criteria for 'borderline' RHD and four were 'definite' RHD. None of these 17 had been previously identified. CONCLUSION: These data indicate a significant burden of RHD in Rwanda and support a need for defined public health RF control programmes in children there.