Hypertension and diabetes control: faith-based centres offer a promise for expanding screening services and linkage to care in Ghana.

Autor: Nonterah EA; Navrongo Health Research Centre, Ghana Health Service, Navrongo, Ghana. drenanonterah@gmail.com.; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, CK Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Navrongo, Ghana. drenanonterah@gmail.com.; Julius Centre for Health Science and Primary Care, Julius Global Health, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. drenanonterah@gmail.com., Chatio ST; Navrongo Health Research Centre, Ghana Health Service, Navrongo, Ghana.; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, CK Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Navrongo, Ghana., Willis A; School of Public Health and HRB Clinical Research Facility, University College, Cork, Ireland., Alale JA; Navrongo Health Research Centre, Ghana Health Service, Navrongo, Ghana., Zakariah-Akoto S; Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana., Darko N; Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, College of Life Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK., Curtis F; Leicester Diabetes Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK., Kunutsor SK; Section of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Saint Boniface Hospital, Winnipeg, MB, R2H 2A6, Canada., Jones C; Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK., Seidu S; Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, College of Life Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.; Leicester Diabetes Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK., Ansah PO; Navrongo Health Research Centre, Ghana Health Service, Navrongo, Ghana.; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, CK Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Navrongo, Ghana.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: BMC primary care [BMC Prim Care] 2024 Oct 24; Vol. 25 (1), pp. 382. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 24.
DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02620-0
Abstrakt: Background: Hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are important contributors to noncommunicable disease related morbidity and mortality. Health systems could benefit from exploring the use of Faith-Based Centres (FBC) to screen and link suspected cases for further care in order to help achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3. The study investigated the role of faith-based screening for T2DM and hypertension and the linkage of cases to the healthcare system and examined the care cascade in the Kassena Nankana Districts of Northern Ghana.
Methods: We screened individuals from 6 FBCs for elevated blood pressure and hyperglycaemia. Suspected hypertension and T2DM cases were referred to health facilities for confirmation and subsequently followed them up for 3 months. We assessed the prevalence of behavioural and metabolic risk factors, including hypertension and T2DM, and the retention of referred cases in the healthcare system over follow up period. We further assessed levels of awareness, treatment and adequate control of hypertension and T2DM.
Results: A total of 631 participants were screened, (mean age 49 ± 16years, 73% female) from 6 Faith based Centres. More males than females reported smoking tobacco (14.5% vs. 0.7%) and been physically active (64.5% vs. 52.7%) while more females were obese (29.6 kg/m 2 vs. 14.5 kg/m 2 ) and had a higher mean waist circumference (89.0 cm IQR 75-116 cm vs. 84.2 cm IQR 72-107 cm), hip circumference (101.5 ± 10.6 cm vs. 96.4 ± 8.6 cm) and waist-to-hip ratio (0.86 ± 0.1 cm vs. 0.87 ± 0.1 cm) than males. The prevalence of confirmed hypertension and T2DM was 27.9% and 3.5% respectively with no observed sex differences. We observed deficits in the hypertension and T2DM care cascade with reported low awareness, treatment and uncontrolled levels. A 3-month follow up showed a retention in care of 100% in month one and 94.9% in the third month. There was an increase in treatment (39.4% in month-1 and 82.8% in month-3) and control (26.3% in month-1 and 76.3% in month-3) of hypertension and T2DM combined.
Conclusion: Faith-based centres have the potential to enhance the screening, linkage to the healthcare system, and management of hypertension and T2DM. This improvement over the routine system could lead to earlier diagnoses, a reduction in complications, and decreased premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases. Consequently, these efforts would contribute significantly to achieving SDG 3.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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