Hypertension screening, awareness, treatment, and control in India:A nationally representative cross-sectional study among individuals aged 15 to 49 years

BACKGROUND: Evidence on where in the hypertension care process individuals are lost to care, and how this varies among states and population groups in a country as large as India, is essential for the design of targeted interventions and to monitor progress. Yet, to our knowledge, there has not yet been a nationally representative analysis of the proportion of adults who reach each step of the hypertension care process in India. This study aimed to determine (i) the proportion of adults with hypertension who have been screened, are aware of their diagnosis, take antihypertensive treatment, and have achieved control and (ii) the variation of these care indicators among states and sociodemographic groups. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used data from a nationally representative household survey carried out from 20 January 2015 to 4 December 2016 among individuals aged 15-49 years in all states and union territories (hereafter "states") of the country. The stages of the care process-computed among those with hypertension at the time of the survey-were (i) having ever had one's blood pressure (BP) measured before the survey ("screened"), (ii) having been diagnosed ("aware"), (iii) currently taking BP-lowering medication ("treated"), and (iv) reporting being treated and not having a raised BP ("controlled"). We disaggregated these stages by state, rural-urban residence, sex, age group, body mass index, tobacco consumption, household wealth quintile, education, and marital status. In total, 731,864 participants were included in the analysis. Hypertension prevalence was 18.1% (95% CI 17.8%-18.4%). Among those with hypertension, 76.1% (95% CI 75.3%-76.8%) had ever received a BP measurement, 44.7% (95% CI 43.6%-45.8%) were aware of their diagnosis, 13.3% (95% CI 12.9%-13.8%) were treated, and 7.9% (95% CI 7.6%-8.3%) had achieved control. Male sex, rural location, lower household wealth, and not being married were associated with greater losses at each step of the care process. Between states, control among individuals with hypertension varied from 2.4% (95% CI 1.7%-3.3%) in Nagaland to 21.0% (95% CI 9.8%-39.6%) in Daman and Diu. At 38.0% (95% CI 36.3%-39.0%), 28.8% (95% CI 28.5%-29.2%), 28.4% (95% CI 27.7%-29.0%), and 28.4% (95% CI 27.8%-29.0%), respectively, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, and Haryana had the highest proportion of all adults (irrespective of hypertension status) in the sampled age range who had hypertension but did not achieve control. The main limitation of this study is that its results cannot be generalized to adults aged 50 years and older-the population group in which hypertension is most common. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension prevalence in India is high, but the proportion of adults with hypertension who are aware of their diagnosis, are treated, and achieve control is low. Even after adjusting for states' economic development, there is large variation among states in health system performance in the management of hypertension. Improvements in access to hypertension diagnosis and treatment are especially important among men, in rural areas, and in populations with lower household wealth

Variation in health system performance for managing diabetes among states in India:a cross-sectional study of individuals aged 15 to 49 years

Background: Understanding where adults with diabetes in India are lost in the diabetes care cascade is essential for the design of targeted health interventions and to monitor progress in health system performance for managing diabetes over time. This study aimed to determine (i) the proportion of adults with diabetes in India who have reached each step of the care cascade and (ii) the variation of these cascade indicators among states and socio-demographic groups. Methods: We used data from a population-based household survey carried out in 2015 and 2016 among women and men aged 15–49 years in all states of India. Diabetes was defined as a random blood glucose (RBG) ≥ 200 mg/dL or reporting to have diabetes. The care cascade—constructed among those with diabetes—consisted of the proportion who (i) reported having diabetes (“aware”), (ii) had sought treatment (“treated”), and (iii) had sought treatment and had a RBG < 200 mg/dL (“controlled”). The care cascade was disaggregated by state, rural-urban location, age, sex, household wealth quintile, education, and marital status. Results: This analysis included 729,829 participants. Among those with diabetes (19,453 participants), 52.5% (95% CI, 50.6–54.4%) were “aware”, 40.5% (95% CI, 38.6–42.3%) “treated”, and 24.8% (95% CI, 23.1–26.4%) “controlled”. Living in a rural area, male sex, less household wealth, and lower education were associated with worse care cascade indicators. Adults with untreated diabetes constituted the highest percentage of the adult population (irrespective of diabetes status) aged 15 to 49 years in Goa (4.2%; 95% CI, 3.2–5.2%) and Tamil Nadu (3.8%; 95% CI, 3.4–4.1%). The highest absolute number of adults with untreated diabetes lived in Tamil Nadu (1,670,035; 95% CI, 1,519,130–1,812,278) and Uttar Pradesh (1,506,638; 95% CI, 1,419,466–1,589,832). Conclusions: There are large losses to diabetes care at each step of the care cascade in India, with the greatest loss occurring at the awareness stage. While health system performance for managing diabetes varies greatly among India’s states, improvements are particularly needed for rural areas, those with less household wealth and education, and men. Although such improvements will likely have the greatest benefits for population health in Goa and Tamil Nadu, large states with a low diabetes prevalence but a high absolute number of adults with untreated diabetes, such as Uttar Pradesh, should not be neglected

How universal is coverage and access to diagnosis and treatment for Chagas disease in Colombia? A health systems analysis

Limited access to Chagas disease diagnosis and treatment is a major obstacle to reaching the 2020 World Health Organization milestones of delivering care to all infected and ill patients. Colombia has been identified as a health system in transition, reporting one of the highest levels of health insurance coverage in Latin America. We explore if and how this high level of coverage extends to those with Chagas disease, a traditionally marginalised population. Using a mixed methods approach, we calculate coverage for screening, diagnosis and treatment of Chagas. We then identify supply-side constraints both quantitatively and qualitatively. A review of official registries of tests and treatments for Chagas disease delivered between 2008 and 2014 is compared to estimates of infected people. Using the Flagship Framework, we explore barriers limiting access to care. Screening coverage is estimated at 1.2% of the population at risk. Aetiological treatment with either benznidazol or nifurtimox covered 0.3-0.4% of the infected population. Barriers to accessing screening, diagnosis and treatment are identified for each of the Flagship Framework's five dimensions of interest: financing, payment, regulation, organization and persuasion. The main challenges identified were: a lack of clarity in terms of financial responsibilities in a segmented health system, claims of limited resources for undertaking activities particularly in primary care, non-inclusion of confirmatory test(s) in the basic package of diagnosis and care, poor logistics in the distribution and supply chain of medicines, and lack of awareness of medical personnel. Very low screening coverage emerges as a key obstacle hindering access to care for Chagas disease. Findings suggest serious shortcomings in this health system for Chagas disease, despite the success of universal health insurance scale-up in Colombia. Whether these shortcomings exist in relation to other neglected tropical diseases needs investigating. We identify opportunities for improvement that can inform additional planned health reforms. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license

Evaluation of sex differences in dietary behaviours and their relationship with cardiovascular risk factors:a cross-sectional study of nationally representative surveys in seven low- and middle-income countries

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading causes of death for men and women in low-and-middle income countries (LMIC). The nutrition transition to diets high in salt, fat and sugar and low in fruit and vegetables, in parallel with increasing prevalence of diet-related CVD risk factors in LMICs, identifies the need for urgent action to reverse this trend. To aid identification of the most effective interventions it is crucial to understand whether there are sex differences in dietary behaviours related to CVD risk. Methods: From a dataset of 46 nationally representative surveys, we included data from seven countries that had recorded the same dietary behaviour measurements in adults; Bhutan, Eswatini, Georgia, Guyana, Kenya, Nepal and St Vincent and the Grenadines (2013-2017). Three dietary behaviours were investigated: positive salt use behaviour (SUB), meeting fruit and vegetable (F&V) recommendations and use of vegetable oil rather than animal fats in cooking. Generalized linear models were used to investigate the association between dietary behaviours and waist circumference (WC) and undiagnosed and diagnosed hypertension and diabetes. Interaction terms between sex and dietary behaviour were added to test for sex differences. Results: Twenty-four thousand three hundred thirty-two participants were included. More females than males reported positive SUB (31.3 vs. 27.2% p-value < 0.001), yet less met F&V recommendations (13.2 vs. 14.8%, p-value< 0.05). The prevalence of reporting all three dietary behaviours in a positive manner was 2.7%, varying by country, but not sex. Poor SUB was associated with a higher prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension for females (13.1% vs. 9.9%, p-value = 0.04), and a higher prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes for males (2.4% vs. 1.5%, p-value = 0.02). Meeting F&V recommendations was associated with a higher prevalence of high WC (24.4% vs 22.6%, p-value = 0.01), but was not associated with undiagnosed or diagnosed hypertension or diabetes. Conclusion: Interventions to increase F&V intake and positive SUBs in the included countries are urgently needed. Dietary behaviours were not notably different between sexes. However, our findings were limited by the small proportion of the population reporting positive dietary behaviours, and further research is required to understand whether associations with CVD risk factors and interactions by sex would change as the prevalence of positive behaviours increases

Performance of self-reported HIV status in determining true HIV status among older adults in rural South Africa: a validation study

Introduction: In South Africa, older adults make up a growing proportion of people living with HIV. HIV programmes are likely to reach older South Africans in home-based interventions where testing is not always feasible. We evaluate the accuracy of self-reported HIV status, which may provide useful information for targeting interventions or offer an alternative to biomarker testing. Methods: Data were taken from the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) baseline survey, which was conducted in rural Mpumalanga province, South Africa. A total of 5059 participants aged ≥40 years were interviewed from 2014 to 2015. Self-reported HIV status and dried bloodspots for HIV biomarker testing were obtained during at-home interviews. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for self-reported status compared to “gold standard” biomarker results. Log-binomial regression explored associations between demographic characteristics, antiretroviral therapy (ART) status and sensitivity of self-report. Results: Most participants (93%) consented to biomarker testing. Of those with biomarker results, 50.9% reported knowing their HIV status and accurately reported it. PPV of self-report was 94.1% (95% confidence interval (CI): 92.0–96.0), NPV was 87.2% (95% CI: 86.2–88.2), sensitivity was 51.2% (95% CI: 48.2–54.3) and specificity was 99.0% (95% CI: 98.7–99.4). Participants on ART were more likely to report their HIV-positive status, and participants reporting false-negatives were more likely to have older HIV tests. Conclusions: The majority of participants were willing to share their HIV status. False-negative reports were largely explained by lack of testing, suggesting HIV stigma is retreating in this setting, and that expansion of HIV testing and retesting is still needed in this population. In HIV interventions where testing is not possible, self-reported status should be considered as a routine first step to establish HIV status.This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) [P01-AG041710] and is nested within the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt) and funded by Wellcome Trust [058893/Z/99/A; 069683/Z/02/Z; 085477/Z/08/Z; 085477/B/08/Z] with important contributions from the University of the Witwatersrand and the South African Medical Research Council. Till Bärnighausen was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through the Alexander von Humboldt Professor award, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. He is also supported by the Wellcome Trust, the European Commission, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and NICHD of NIH [R01-HD084233], NIAID of NIH [R01-AI124389 and R01-AI112339] and FIC of NIH [D43-TW009775]

Final 192-week efficacy and safety results of the ADVANCE trial, comparing 3 first-line antiretroviral regimens

BACKGROUND: ADVANCE compared 3 World Health Organization-recommended first-line regimens in participants with HIV who were antiretroviral naive. METHODS: This randomized, open-label, noninferiority trial enrolled participants living with HIV with no antiretroviral exposure in the previous 6 months to 1 of the following arms: tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) / emtricitabine (FTC) + dolutegravir (DTG) (2 tablets), tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) / FTC + DTG (2 tablets), or a fixed-dose combination of TDF / FTC / efavirenz (EFV) (1 tablet). We report the final safety and efficacy data up to 192 weeks. RESULTS: Repeat consent from the original 351 participants randomized to each arm was obtained from 230 participants (66%) in the TAF/FTC + DTG arm, 209 (60%) in the TDF/FTC + DTG arm, and 183 (52%) in the TDF/FTC/EFV arm. At 192 weeks, 213 (61%) of the original 351 participants in the TAF/FTC + DTG arm, 195 (56%) in the TDF/FTC + DTG arm, and 172 (49%) in the TDF/FTC/EFV arm had confirmed RNA <50 copies/mL, with low virologic failure in all groups and no significant integrase inhibitor mutations in any arm. Mean weight gain was 8.9 kg (SD, 7.1) in the TAF/FTC + DTG arm, 5.9 kg (SD, 7.1) in the TDF/FTC + DTG arm, and 3.2 kg (SD, 8.1) in the TDF/FTC/EFV arm at 192 weeks from baseline and was greatest among women, those taking TAF, and those with lower baseline CD4 counts. The weight trajectory slowed after week 96. There were few clinical events and minor laboratory changes and differences among arms after 96 weeks. There were no significant differences in treatment-emergent hypertension or pregnancy outcomes by arm. CONCLUSIONS: High viral suppression was seen across arms, with no resistance to DTG. Weight gain continued but slowed after 96 weeks, with few clinical events or laboratory changes

Variation in the proportion of adults in need of BP-lowering medications by hypertension care guideline in low- and middle-income countries:a cross-sectional study of 1,037,215 individuals from 50 nationally representative surveys

BACKGROUND:Current hypertension guidelines vary substantially in their definition of who should be offered blood pressure–lowering medications. Understanding the effect of guideline choice on the proportion of adults who require treatment is crucial for planning and scaling up hypertension care in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS:We extracted cross-sectional data on age, sex, blood pressure, hypertension treatment and diagnosis status, smoking, and body mass index for adults 30 to 70 years of age from nationally representative surveys in 50 low- and middle-income countries (N = 1 037 215). We aimed to determine the effect of hypertension guideline choice on the proportion of adults in need of blood pressure–lowering medications. We considered 4 hypertension guidelines: the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guideline, the commonly used 140/90 mm Hg threshold, the 2016 World Health Organization HEARTS guideline, and the 2019 UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline. RESULTS:The proportion of adults in need of blood pressure–lowering medications was highest under the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association, followed by the 140/90 mm Hg, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and World Health Organization guidelines (American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association: women, 27.7% [95% CI, 27.2–28.2], men, 35.0% [95% CI, 34.4–35.7]; 140/90 mm Hg: women, 26.1% [95% CI, 25.5–26.6], men, 31.2% [95% CI, 30.6–31.9]; National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: women, 11.8% [95% CI, 11.4–12.1], men, 15.7% [95% CI, 15.3–16.2]; World Health Organization: women, 9.2% [95% CI, 8.9–9.5], men, 11.0% [95% CI, 10.6–11.4]). Individuals who were unaware that they have hypertension were the primary contributor to differences in the proportion needing treatment under different guideline criteria. Differences in the proportion needing blood pressure–lowering medications were largest in the oldest (65–69 years) age group (American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association: women, 60.2% [95% CI, 58.8–61.6], men, 70.1% [95% CI, 68.8–71.3]; World Health Organization: women, 20.1% [95% CI, 18.8–21.3], men, 24.1.0% [95% CI, 22.3–25.9]). For both women and men and across all guidelines, countries in the European and Eastern Mediterranean regions had the highest proportion of adults in need of blood pressure–lowering medicines, whereas the South and Central Americas had the lowest. CONCLUSIONS:There was substantial variation in the proportion of adults in need of blood pressure–lowering medications depending on which hypertension guideline was used. Given the great implications of this choice for health system capacity, policy makers will need to carefully consider which guideline they should adopt when scaling up hypertension care in their country