Background: Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) pose a major public health challenge in older adults. In sub-Saharan Africa, the burden of ADRD is projected to escalate amidst ill-equipped healthcare workers (HCWs).Aim: This study aimed to assess ADRD knowledge amongst Ghanaian HCWs and improve gaps identified through a workshop.Setting: Study was conducted among HCWs attending a workshop in Kumasi, Ghana.Methods: On 18 August 2021, a workshop on ADRD was organised in Kumasi, Ghana, which was attended by 49 HCWs comprising doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers and nutritionists. On arrival, they answered 30 pre-test questions using the Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS). A post-test using the same questionnaire was conducted after participants had been exposed to a 4-h in-person educational content on ADRD delivered by facilitators from family medicine, neurology, geriatrics, psychiatry and public health.Results: The mean age of participants was 34.6 (± 6.82), mean years of practice was 7.7 (± 5.6) and 38.8% (n = 19) were nurses. The mean score of participants’ overall knowledge was 19.8 (± 4.3) at pre-test and 23.2 (± 4.0) at post-test. Participants’ pre-test and post-test scores improved in all ADKS domains. Factors associated with participants’ knowledge at baseline were profession, professional rank and the highest level of education attained. After adjusting for age and sex, participant’s rank, being a specialist (adjusted β = 14.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.03, 21.85; p 0.001) was an independent predictor of knowledge on Alzheimer’s disease.Conclusion: Existing knowledge gaps in ADRD could be improved via continuous medical education interventions of HCWs to prepare healthcare systems in Africa for the predicted ADRD epidemic.
Background: Carers of people with dementia (PWD) face a myriad of challenges. As dementia prevalence surges in the sub-Saharan population, the provision of data on the met and unmet needs of caregivers has become paramount.Aim: This study aimed to identify the needs of carers of older adults living with dementia in Ghana.Setting: This study was conducted in Kumasi, Ghana, among participants ≥ 18 years old, serving as carers for PWD.Methods: This was a multicentre cross-sectional study involving carers of patients (≥ 50 years) with dementia. The authors administered the Carer's Needs Assessment for Dementia (CNA-D) questionnaire, containing 18 problem areas with interventions for each problem area. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to establish a relationship between demographic characteristics, problem areas and intervention score.Results: Fifty participants were recruited with a mean age of 48.8 (± 16.9) years, 72.0% were female participants and 98.0% were family members of PWD. The problem area most frequently identified as no/mild problem was 'legal issues' (92.0%, n = 46), and 'lack of information about dementia' was assessed as severe (48.0%, n = 24). The commonest unmet need was 'printed information material' (84.0%, n = 42), and the commonest met need was 'diagnosis and treatment of carer by a general practitioner' (42.0%, n = 21). There was a statistically negative correlation between age of carer and number of unmet needs (r = −0.308, p = 0.011) and a positive correlation between problem area score and number of unmet needs (r = 0.308, p = 0.030).
Conclusion:Effective public education and provision of information on dementia to carers are essential interventions needed to equip them in performing their roles.Contribution: Carers in this study revealed that they lacked information on dementia but their commonest met need was accessibility to their general practitioner. This highlights the importance of promoting knowledge and awareness of dementia among primary care practitioners.
Objectives: The World Stroke Organization (WSO) has raised concerns about the global impact of COVID-19 on occurrence of stroke and its implications for stroke care, especially in low-middle-income countries. We sought to describe the profile and outcomes of acute stroke admissions in relation to COVID-19 status.
Methodology: This is a retrospective study involving all stroke patients admitted to the University Hospital, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana from 1st March, 2020 to 30th November, 2020. Stroke was diagnosed clinically and confirmed with a head Computerized Tomography scan. After the diagnosis of stroke, all patients with presentations that fitted the case definition of COVID-19 were tested using real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Bivariate analysis was performed to identify factors associated with in-patient mortality. Statistical significance level was set at p < 0.05.
Results: A total of 93 patients with confirmed acute stroke were hospitalized within a 9-month period with 3 (3.2%) having confirmed COVID-19 infection. All COVID-19 cases had ischemic stroke and all of them died. Bivariate analyses identified COVID-19 status (p=0.016), mean pulse rate (p=0.036) and patients who did not receive angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) (p=0.029) or calcium channel blockers (CCB) (p=0.016) were associated with in-patient mortality.
Conclusion: COVID-19 occurring with acute stroke is a predictor of mortality in this sample of Ghanaians. In this era of COVID-19 pandemic, patients with acute stroke should also be screened for the infection and managed appropriately to minimize death.
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