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Our study shows that chronic rheumatic valvular heart disease is the most common cardiovascular diagnosis among patients seen at cardiology clinics of six referral/teaching hospitals in the country, followed by congenital heart diseases. Hypertensive and ischaemic heart diseases also accounted for a significant proportion of the cases. Therefore, strategies directed towards primary and secondary prevention of acute rheumatic fever as well as prevention of risk factors for hypertension and ischaemic heart disease may need to be strengthened.

The current model of collaboration has brought cardiac care to patients having cardiac diseases. However, the model appears to be suboptimal for skill transfer. The model needs to be reshaped to achieve this complex goal.

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Background Oral anticoagulation therapy with warfarin requires frequent monitoring level of anticoagulation by the international normalized ratio (INR). In Africa, studies that explore anticoagulation control, treatment outcomes, and associated factors are reported in various ways in long-term patients receiving warfarin therapy to generate concrete scientific evidence. Methods The literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, African Journal of Online databases, Google Scholar, and Google. An advanced search strategy was computed to retrieve relevant studies related to anticoagulation control and outcomes. Duplication, title and abstract screening, and full-text assessment were conducted in Covidence software. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical appraisal quality assessment tool. The systematic review is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021260772) and performed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guideline. Results Out of 298 identified articles, 18 articles were eligible for the final review and analysis. The mean of 39.4 ± 8.4% time in therapeutic range (TTR) (29.4 to 57.3%), 36.7 ± 11.5% TTR (range 25.2–49.7%) and 46% TTR (43.5–48.5%) was computed from studies that determined TTR by Rosendaal, direct and cross-section-of-the-files methods, respectively. In this review, the lowest percentage of TTR was 13.7%, while the highest was 57.3%. The highest percentage of patients (32.25%) who had TTR ≥ 65% was reported in Tunisia, but the lowest percentages were in Namibia (10%, TTR ≥ 65%) and Kenya (10.4%, TTR ≥ 70%). Most of the included studies (11 out of 18) used Rosendaal’s method while the direct method was employed by three studies. Generally, 10.4–32.3% of study participants achieved desired optimal anticoagulation level. Regarding secondary outcomes, 1.6–7.5% and 0.006–59% of patients experienced thromboembolic complications and bleeding events, respectively. Having chronic comorbidities, taking more than two drugs, and presence of medications that potentially interact with warfarin, and patient-related factors (patients aged < 50 years old, female gender, lower education level, smoking history) were the frequently reported predictors of poor anticoagulation therapy. Conclusions Oral anticoagulation control was suboptimal in patients taking warfarin as evidenced by low TTR in Africa. Therefore, there is an urgent need for further improving oral anticoagulation management services.

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Background Subjective wellbeing (SWB) is a self-reported positive life judgment and good feeling. RHD, rheumatic heart disease, is a long-term sequel of single or recurrent acute rheumatic fever. There are no studies that assessed SWB in RHD patients. We aimed to assess SWB among RHD subjects enrolled in chronic care at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Ethiopia. Methods This observational cross-sectional study employed a validated Amharic WHO-5 wellbeing index to assess SWB. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected using structured questionnaire. RHD subjects aged 9 years and above were included. Factors associated with SWB were assessed using logistic regression models. Results The study included 384 subjects, females 68.2% (262). Children, < 18 years, constituted one third of study subjects, 32.8% (126). Moderate and severe echocardiographic RHD dominated, 85.9% (330) with no associated comorbidity, 84.4% (324). Only 17.2% (66) had surgical or device intervention. Poor SWB was documented in 9.6% of study subjects (95% CI: 6.88–13.04). On multivariable regression, those with younger age RHD diagnosis, < 20 years, had almost three times higher odds of poor SWB, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.69(95% CI: 1.30–5.58, P 0.008). Those with monthly family income of < 1000 Ethiopian Birr had three times higher odds of poor SWB, aOR 2.97(95% CI: 1.24–7.1, P 0.014). Study subjects who had good medication adherence had reduced odds of poor SWB, aOR 0.37(95% CI: 0.18–0.77, P 0.028). Those who received psychologic support from their families also had reduced odds of poor SWB, aOR 0.26(95% CI: 0.11–0.64, P 0.003). Conclusion Poor SWB was documented in one-tenth of RHD patients. Family income, younger age at RHD diagnosis, medication adherence and psychological support predicted poor SWB. Poor SWB has to be considered and assessed among RHD patients particularly among those with younger age at RHD diagnosis and poor family income. Further mixed studies are recommended to assess how medication adherence and psychological supports associate with positive SWB among RHD patients.