Community Awareness of Sore Throat and Rheumatic Heart Disease in Northern Ethiopia

Hailu, Abraha; Tsega, Temesgen; Gebregziabher, Tesfay; Abebe, Haftom Temesgen; Tesfay, Hagazi; Kahsay, Hagos; Naizgi, Mulugeta; Berhane, Samuel; Hadush, Marta Yemane; Berhane, Yonas; Leuner, Christian; Wehr, Gabriele

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3369791

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…These results are consistent with a study carried out in Cameroon [ 12 ] where, among 256 adults and children, the level of awareness of RHD was very low, with only 5% of the respondents having adequate knowledge about the different aspects of the disease. Similar results also have been reported for a study conducted in Northern Ethiopia [ 15 ]. On the other hand, a study in Tanzania [ 16 ] reported that the overall level of awareness of RF/RHD was good and showed better outcomes than the current results.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Poor awareness of RHD also has been noted by Nkoke et al [ 12 ], where most of their participants did not know about RHD (82%), more than 70% did not know that a sore throat can be associated with heart disease, 73% did not know what causes a sore throat, and 71% were unaware of any complications that could arise from a poorly treated sore throat. Conversely, it is interesting to note that most people in rural areas of Northern Ethiopia would take children with a sore throat to traditional healers rather than conventional healthcare providers [ 15 ]. This latter observation may be due, in part, to a lack of access to medical care in these areas, and thus an increased tendency to avail of alternative options.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease-Related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice in Saudi Arabia

Almadhi¹,

Alshammri²,

Altamimi³

et al. 2021

Cureus

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ObjectivesRheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disorder caused by group A streptococcal pharyngitis infections that can progress to rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Public awareness and knowledge of this condition are crucial for its prevention. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes regarding these disorders to identify the factors influencing the level of knowledge and to determine how to increase awareness and knowledge of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. MethodsAn observational, cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire distributed to 1211 participants throughout Saudi Arabia using an online platform. The questionnaire collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, levels of awareness, knowledge of rheumatic fever along with rheumatic heart disease, and attitudes toward these diseases. ResultsA total of 1121 participants met the criteria for the study and completed the questionnaire (77.5% female vs. 22.5% male). The most common age group was 18 to 30 years old (30.5%). The lack of knowledge was most common among the younger age group (≤ 40 years) and males. Knowledge of rheumatic fever was assessed as poor, fair, and good among 80.2%, 16.2%, and 3.6% of participants, respectively. A good knowledge level was more common among the older age group (> 40 years) and those who had four to seven children. Poor, fair, and good attitude levels were expressed by 41.7%, 32.6%, and 25.8% of participants, respectively. Poor attitudes toward rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease were more common among those living in the Central region. ConclusionWhile the attitudes toward rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease seem adequate, significant deficiencies in the knowledge and awareness of these disorders were observed in the study population. Insufficient knowledge was primarily seen among young male participants.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease-Related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice in Saudi Arabia

Almadhi¹,

Alshammri²,

Altamimi³

et al. 2021

Cureus

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“…Developing countries lack appropriate case detection systems and treatment strategies, possibly due to limited resources. Community awareness and adherence to RHD preventive strategies are also expected to be low in developing countries; including countries of East Africa [ 14 ]. Those factors in combination might be associated with the observed higher prevalence of RHD in East Africa.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Authors of this meta-analysis believe that communities´ perception, knowledge of RHD severity and strep throat complication and increased health-seeking behavior for strep throat are crucial points to eradicate/reduce RHD [ 43 ]. Despite this, acute respiratory illnesses including tonsillopharyngitis (strep throat) are considered mild and self-limiting diseases and health-seeking behavior for those illnesses is low in developing countries including in East Africa [ 13 , 14 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease among school children in East Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

et al. 2021

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Introduction conducting researches and estimating the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in school children is crucial to develop school-based strategies targeted to decrease the prevalence of this disease. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis were aimed to estimate the overall prevalence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) among school children in East Africa. Methods PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Cochrane review, African Journals Online and African Index Medicus databases were searched to identify relevant research articles. The overall prevalence of rheumatic heart disease was pooled based on the weighted inverse variance random-effects model at a 95% confidence interval. The presence of heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis and presence of publication bias was tested. Results were presented with narrative synthesis, tables and forest plots. Results a total of thirteen research articles were included in the final analysis. The pooled prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in East African school children was 1.79% (17.9 cases per 1000 children (95% CI=11.6, 24.2; I 2 =95.1%; p<0.001)). From the subgroup analysis conducted by publication year, a lower prevalence of RHD in school children was reported among studies published after 2015 (six studies; overall prevalence=1.17% (11.7 cases per 1000 school children); with 95% CI=0.60, 1.73%; I 2 =88.8%; p<0.001). Additionally, the horn of Africa was found to have the lowest prevalence of RHD in school children among East African countries (six studies; overall prevalence=1.59% (15.9 cases per 1000 school children); with 95% CI=0.68, 2.51%; I 2 =94.2%; p<0.001). Conclusion the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) among school children in East Africa was considerably higher than the results from high-income countries. Therefore, community education on strep throat and its complications should be implemented through mass media. Rheumatic heart disease preventive strategies should be integrated with schools to reduce the prevalence of RHD among school children.

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“…This significant prevalence rate of RHD in Ethiopian hospitals attributes primarily to the reported non-existent community understanding of the cause and the connection between GAS bacterial pharyngitis and RHD [ 32 ]. This hindered people with a sore throat from seeking medical treatment and thus increased the risk of developing RHD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in a major referral cardiology clinic in Ethiopia: A retrospective cross-sectional study

et al. 2021

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Background Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) remains one of the major causes of death and disability in developing countries. This preventable, treatable but not curable form of cardiovascular disease is needlessly killing scores of children and youth mainly due to the misunderstanding of the burden of the disease in these countries. We sought to describe the prevalence of RHD at one of the major referral cardiology clinics in Ethiopia. Methods This was a retrospective cross-sectional chart review of all patients referred for a cardiopathy at the Tikur Anbessa Referral Cardiac Clinic from June 2015 to August 2018. We excluded records of patients with a non-cardiac diagnosis and those without a clear diagnosis. A predesigned and tested EXCEL form was used to collect the data. The data was encoded directly from the patient record files. MATLAB’s statistics toolbox (MATLAB2019b) was used for statistical analysis. Results Among the total 7576 records analyzed 59.5% of the patients were women. 83.1% of the data belonged to adult patients with the largest concentration reported in the 18 to 27 age group. 69.7% of the patients were from urban areas. The median age of the study population was 30 (interquartile range = 21–50). 4151 cases were caused by RHD which showed that RHD constituted 54.8% of the cases. The median age for RHD patients was 25 (interquartile range = 19–34). The second most prevalent disease was hypertensive heart disease which constituted 13.6% that was followed by congenital heart disease with 9% prevalence rate. Conclusion The results of this study indicated the extent of the RHD prevalence in Ethiopia’s cardiac hospital was 54.8%. What was more critical was that almost 70% of the RHD patients were mainly the working-age group(19 to 34 years).

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Community Awareness of Sore Throat and Rheumatic Heart Disease in Northern Ethiopia

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease-Related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice in Saudi Arabia

Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease-Related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice in Saudi Arabia

Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease among school children in East Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in a major referral cardiology clinic in Ethiopia: A retrospective cross-sectional study

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