| 1. |
- Ameh, Soter, et al.
(författare)
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Multilevel predictors of controlled CD4 count and blood pressure in an integrated chronic disease management model in rural South Africa : a panel study
- 2020
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 10:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: In 2011, The National Department of Health introduced the Integrated Chronic Disease Management (ICDM) model as a pilot programme in selected primary healthcare facilities in South Africa. The objective of this study was to determine individual-level and facility-level predictors of controlled CD4 count and blood pressure (BP) in patients receiving treatment for HIV and hypertension, respectively.DESIGN: A panel study.SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: This study was conducted in the Bushbuckridge Municipality, South Africa from 2011 to 2013. Facility records of patients aged ≥18 years were retrieved from the integrated chronic disease management (ICDM) pilot (n=435) and comparison facilities (n=443) using a three-step probability sampling process. CD4 count and BP control are defined as CD4 count >350 cells/mm3 and BP <140/90 mm Hg. A multilevel Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator binary logistic regression analysis was done at a 5% significance level using STATA V.16.PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: CD4 (cells/mm3) count and BP (mm Hg).RESULTS: Compared with the comparison facilities, patients receiving treatment in the pilot facilities had increased odds of controlling their CD4 count (OR=5.84, 95% CI 3.21-8.22) and BP (OR=1.22, 95% CI 1.04-2.14). Patients aged 50-59 (OR=6.12, 95% CI 2.14-7.21) and ≥60 (OR=7.59, 95% CI 4.75-11.82) years had increased odds of controlling their CD4 counts compared with those aged 18-29 years. Likewise, patients aged 40-49 (OR=5.73, 95% CI 1.98-8.43), 50-59 (OR=7.28, 95% CI 4.33-9.27) and ≥60 (OR=9.31, 95% CI 5.12-13.68) years had increased odds of controlling their BP. In contrast, men had decreased odds of controlling their CD4 count (OR=0.12, 95% CI 0.10-0.46) and BP (OR=0.21, 95% CI 0.19-0.47) than women.CONCLUSION: The ICDM model had a small but significant effect on BP control, hence, the need to more effectively leverage the HIV programme for optimal BP control in the setting.
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| 2. |
- Edem, Idara J., et al.
(författare)
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External injuries, trauma and avoidable deaths in Agincourt, South Africa : a retrospective observational and qualitative study
- 2019
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 9:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: Injury burden is highest in low-income and middle-income countries. To reduce avoidable deaths, it is necessary to identify health system deficiencies preventing timely, quality care. We developed criteria to use verbal autopsy (VA) data to identify avoidable deaths and associated health system deficiencies.Setting: Agincourt, a rural Bushbuckridge municipality, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.Participants: Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System and healthcare providers (HCPs) from local hospitals.Methods: A literature review to explore definitions of avoidable deaths after trauma and barriers to access to care using the ‘three delays framework’ (seeking, reaching and receiving care) was performed. Based on these definitions, this study developed criteria, applicable for use with VA data, for identifying avoidable death and which of the three delays contributed to avoidable deaths. These criteria were then applied retrospectively to the VA-defined category external injury deaths (EIDs—a subset of which are trauma deaths) from 2012 to 2015. The findings were validated by external expert review. Key informant interviews (KIIs) with HCPs were performed to further explore delays to care.Results: Using VA data, avoidable death was defined with a focus on survivability, using level of consciousness at the scene and ability to seek care as indicators. Of 260 EIDs (189 trauma deaths), there were 104 (40%) avoidable EIDs and 78 (30%) avoidable trauma deaths (41% of trauma deaths). Delay in receiving care was the largest contributor to avoidable EIDs (61%) and trauma deaths (59%), followed by delay in seeking care (24% and 23%) and in reaching care (15% and 18%). KIIs revealed context-specific factors contributing to the third delay, including difficult referral systems.Conclusions: A substantial proportion of EIDs and trauma deaths were avoidable, mainly occurring due to facility-based delays in care. Interventions, including strengthening referral networks, may substantially reduce trauma deaths.
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| 3. |
- Jayaweera, Ruvani T., et al.
(författare)
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Associations between WASH-related violence and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls and young women in South Africa (HPTN 068) : a cross-sectional analysis
- 2022
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 12:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of research on experiences of WASH-related violence. This study aims to quantify the association between experience or worry of violence when using the toilet or collecting water and depressive symptoms among a cohort of young women in South Africa.METHODS: Data are from visit 3 of the HPTN 068 cohort of adolescent girls in rural Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Participants (n=1798) included in this analysis were aged 13-21 at baseline. Lifetime experience of violence or fear of violence when using the toilet and collecting water was collected by self-report; depressive symptoms in the past week were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). We used G-computation to calculate the prevalence difference (PD) and prevalence ratio of depression (CES-D score >15) associated with each domain of violence, controlling for baseline covariates.FINDINGS: A total of 15.1% of respondents reported experiencing violence when using the toilet; 17.1% reported experiencing violence when collecting water and 26.7% reported depression. In adjusted models, those who reported experiencing violence when using the toilet had an 18.1% higher prevalence of depression (95% CI: 11.6% to 24.4%) than those who did not experience violence when using the toilet. Adjusted prevalence of depression was also higher among those who reported violence when collecting water (PD 11.9%, 95% CI: 6.7% to 17.2%), and who worried about violence when using the toilet (PD 12.8%, 95% CI: 7.9% to 19.8%), as compared with those who did not report these experiences. Worrying about violence when collecting water was not associated with depression after adjusting for covariates.CONCLUSION: Experience of WASH-related violence is common among young women in rural South Africa, and experience or worry of experiencing violence is associated with higher prevalence of depressive symptoms.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01233531; Post-results.
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| 4. |
- Moffett, Bianca D., et al.
(författare)
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Digital delivery of behavioural activation therapy to overcome depression and facilitate social and economic transitions of adolescents in South Africa (the DoBAt study) : protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial
- 2022
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 12:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Scalable psychological treatments to address depression among adolescents are urgently needed. This is particularly relevant to low-income and middle-income countries where 90% of the world's adolescents live. While digital delivery of behavioural activation (BA) presents a promising solution, its feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness among adolescents in an African context remain to be shown.METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study is a two-arm single-blind individual-level randomised controlled pilot trial to assess the feasibility, acceptability and initial efficacy of digitally delivered BA therapy among adolescents with depression. The intervention has been coproduced with adolescents at the study site. The study is based in the rural northeast of South Africa in the Bushbuckridge subdistrict of Mpumalanga province. A total of 200 adolescents with symptoms of mild to moderately severe depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire Adolescent Version will be recruited (1:1 allocation ratio). The treatment group will receive BA therapy via a smartphone application (the Kuamsha app) supported by trained peer mentors. The control group will receive an enhanced standard of care. The feasibility and acceptability of the intervention will be evaluated using a mixed methods design, and signals of the initial efficacy of the intervention in reducing symptoms of depression will be determined on an intention-to-treat basis. Secondary objectives are to pilot a range of cognitive, mental health, risky behaviour and socioeconomic measures; and to collect descriptive data on the feasibility of trial procedures to inform the development of a further larger trial.ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been approved by the University of the Witwatersrand Human Research Ethics Committee (MED20-05-011) and the Oxford Tropical Research Ethics Committee (OxTREC 34-20). Study findings will be published in scientific open access peer-reviewed journals, presented at scientific conferences and communicated to participants, their caregivers, public sector officials and other relevant stakeholders.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: This trial was registered on 19 November 2020 with the South African National Clinical Trials Registry (DOH-27-112020-5741) and the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR202206574814636).
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| 5. |
- Munthali, Richard J., et al.
(författare)
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Body composition and physical activity as mediators in the relationship between socioeconomic status and blood pressure in young South African women : A structural equation model analysis
- 2018
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 8:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Varying hypertension prevalence across different socioeconomic strata within a population has been well reported. However, the causal factors and pathways across different settings are less clear, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, this study aimed to compare blood pressure (BP) levels and investigate the extent to which socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with BP, in rural and urban South Africa women.Setting: Rural and urban South Africa.Design: Cross-sectional.Participants: Cross-sectional data on SES, total moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA), anthropometric and BP were collected on rural (n=509) and urban (n=510) young black women (18-23 years age). Pregnant and mentally or physically disabled women were excluded from the study.Results: The prevalence of combined overweight and obesity (46.5% vs 38.8%) and elevated BP (27.0% vs 9.3%) was higher in urban than rural women, respectively. Results from the structural equation modelling showed significant direct positive effects of body mass index (BMI) on systolic BP (SBP) in rural, urban and pooled datasets. Negative direct effects of SES on SBP and positive total effects of SES on SBP were observed in the rural and pooled datasets, respectively. In rural young women, SES had direct positive effects on BMI and was negatively associated with MVPA in urban and pooled analyses. BMI mediated the positive total effects association between SES and SBP in pooled analyses (ß 0.46; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.76).Conclusions: Though South Africa is undergoing nutritional and epidemiological transitions, the prevalence of elevated BP still varies between rural and urban young women. The association between SES and SBP varies considerably in economically diverse populations with BMI being the most significant mediator. There is a need to tailor prevention strategies to take into account optimising BMI when designing strategies to reduce future risk of hypertension in young women.
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| 6. |
- Newberry Le Vay, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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Mortality trends and access to care for cardiovascular diseases in Agincourt, rural South Africa: A mixed-methods analysis of verbal autopsy data
- 2021
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 11:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases are the second leading cause of mortality behind HIV/AIDS in South Africa. This study investigates cardiovascular disease mortality trends in rural South Africa over 20+ years and the associated barriers to accessing care, using verbal autopsy data.Design: A mixed-methods approach was used, combining descriptive analysis of mortality rates over time, by condition, sex and age group, quantitative analysis of circumstances of mortality (CoM) indicators and free text narratives of the final illness, and qualitative analysis of free texts.Setting: This study was done using verbal autopsy data from the Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System site in Agincourt, rural South Africa.Participants: Deaths attributable to cardiovascular diseases (acute cardiac disease, stroke, renal failure and other unspecified cardiac disease) from 1993 to 2015 were extracted from verbal autopsy data.Results: Between 1993 and 2015, of 15 305 registered deaths over 1 851 449 person-years of follow-up, 1434 (9.4%) were attributable to cardiovascular disease, corresponding to a crude mortality rate of 0.77 per 1000 person-years. Cardiovascular disease mortality rate increased from 0.34 to 1.12 between 1993 and 2015. Stroke was the dominant cause of death, responsible for 41.0% (588/1434) of all cardiovascular deaths across all years. Cardiovascular disease mortality rate was significantly higher in women and increased with age. The main delays in access to care during the final illness were in seeking and receiving care. Qualitative free-Text analysis highlighted delays not captured in the CoM, principally communication between the clinician and patient or family. Half of cases initially sought care outside a hospital setting (50.9%, 199/391).Conclusions: The temporal increase in deaths due to cardiovascular disease highlights the need for greater prevention and management strategies for these conditions, particularly for the women. Strategies to improve seeking and receiving care during the final illness are needed.
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| 7. |
- Rosenberg, Molly, et al.
(författare)
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Evidence for sample selection effect and Hawthorne effect in behavioural HIV prevention trial among young women in a rural South African community
- 2018
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 8:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: We examined the potential influence of both sample selection effects and Hawthorne effects in the behavioural HIV Prevention Trial Network 068 study, designed to examine whether cash transfers conditional on school attendance reduce HIV acquisition in young South African women. We explored whether school enrolment among study participants differed from the underlying population, and whether differences existed at baseline (sample selection effect) or arose during study participation (Hawthorne effect).Methods: We constructed a cohort of 3889 young women aged 11-20 years using data from the Agincourt Health and socio-Demographic Surveillance System. We compared school enrolment in 2011 (trial start) and 2015 (trial end) between those who did (n=1720) and did not (11=2169) enrol in the trial. To isolate the Hawthorne effect, we restricted the cohort to those enrolled in school in 2011.Results: In 2011, trial participants were already more likely to be enrolled in school (99%) compared with non-participants (93%). However, this association was attenuated with covariate adjustment (adjusted risk difference (aRD) (95% Cl): 2.9 (0.7 to 6.5)). Restricting to those enrolled in school in 2011, trial participants were also more likely to be enrolled in school in 2015 (aRD (95% Cl): 4.9 (1.5 to 8.3)). The strength of associations increased with age.Conclusions: Trial participants across both study arms were more likely to be enrolled in school than nonparticipants. Our findings suggest that both sample selection and Hawthorne effects may have diminished the differences in school enrolment between study arms, a plausible explanation for the null trial findings. The Hawthorne-specific findings generate hypotheses for how to structure school retention interventions to prevent HIV.
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| 8. |
- Wade, Alisha N, et al.
(författare)
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Multimorbidity and mortality in an older, rural black South African population cohort with high prevalence of HIV findings from the HAALSI Study
- 2021
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 11:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Multimorbidity is associated with mortality in high-income countries. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between multimorbidity (≥2 of the following chronic medical conditions: hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, anaemia, HIV, angina, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol dependence) and all-cause mortality in an older, rural black South African population. We further investigated the relationship between HIV multimorbidity (HIV as part of the multimorbidity cluster) and mortality, while testing for the effect of frailty in all models.Design: Population cohort study.Setting: Agincourt subdistrict of Mpumalanga province, South Africa.Participants: 4455 individuals (54.7% female), aged ≥40 years (median age 61 years, IQR 52-71) and resident in the study area.Primary and secondary outcome measures: The primary outcome measure was time to death and the secondary outcome measure was likelihood of death within 2 years of the initial study visit. Mortality was determined during annual population surveillance updates.Results: 3157 individuals (70.9%) had multimorbidity; 29% of these had HIV. In models adjusted for age and sociodemographic factors, multimorbidity was associated with greater risk of death (women: HR 1.72; 95% CI: 1.18 to 2.50; men: HR 1.46; 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.95) and greater odds of dying within 2 years (women: OR 2.34; 95% CI: 1.32 to 4.16; men: OR 1.51; 95% CI: 1.02 to 2.24). HIV multimorbidity was associated with increased risk of death compared with non-HIV multimorbidity in men (HR 1.93; 95% CI: 1.05 to 3.54), but was not statistically significant in women (HR 1.85; 95% CI: 0.85 to 4.04); when detectable, HIV viral loads were higher in men (p=0.021). Further adjustment for frailty slightly attenuated the associations between multimorbidity and mortality risk (women: HR 1.55; 95% CI: 1.06 to 2.26; men: HR 1.36; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.82), but slightly increased associations between HIV multimorbidity and mortality risk.Conclusions: Multimorbidity is associated with mortality in this older black South African population. Health systems which currently focus on HIV should be reorganised to optimise identification and management of other prevalent chronic diseases.
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