A national audit of facilities, human and material resources for the comprehensive management of diabetes in Ghana-A 2023 update.

Introduction: The human and material resources as well as the systems for managing diabetes in Africa are inadequate. This study or needs assessment, aimed at updating the human and material resources, identifying the gaps and unmet needs for comprehensive diabetes care in Ghana.

Methods: We conducted a national audit of 122 facilities in all 16 administrative regions of Ghana.

Assessing the vibration perception threshold in a community sample of adult Ghanaians.

Background: The vibration perception threshold (VPT) helps evaluate human somatosensory function and diagnose peripheral neuropathy. To optimize its use as a primary neurologic tool, it is imperative to establish its typical values in healthy subjects and assess the factors affecting its variability in an individual to ensure consistency in its application.

Methods: Demographic data and a brief medical history were collected from 391 non-diabetic adults aged 30-80 at Kpone-on-Sea in Ghana.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Ocular Changes in Children and Adolescents with Diabetes Mellitus in Selected Health Facilities in Ghana.

Background: The main objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR), other diabetes-related ocular changes (e.g., cataracts, corneal ulceration), and non-diabetic ocular disease in Ghanaian children and adolescents.

Assessment of oral health status in a Ghanaian population: rationale, methods, and population characteristics.

Background: Oral health surveys aid in estimating the oral health of a population and provide a projection for future oral health care needs. We report the procedures and rationale of a survey carried out to assess the oral health status and risk factors for oral disease among adults in the Greater Accra Region (GAR) of Ghana. The objective was to provide prevalence estimates on dental diseases, oral health behaviour and risk factors, and to establish baseline epidemiological data on the population's oral health for further research.

Periodontitis prevalence and severity in an African population: A cross-sectional study in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

Background: Periodontitis is a major public health problem affecting many adults, with considerable variation in its prevalence and severity worldwide. There is little data on its prevalence or associated risk factors in Ghana making development of evidence based preventive programs challenging. This study assessed the prevalence, severity, extent, and associated risk factors of periodontitis in an adult Ghanaian population.

Associations of Serum Uric Acid Levels With Macrovascular and Renal Microvascular Dysfunction Among Individuals From Sub-Saharan Africa.

Importance: Serum uric acid (SUA) level is associated with vascular dysfunction in Eurasian populations, but little is known about this association in individuals from sub-Saharan Africa, who have a high prevalence of both relatively high SUA levels and vascular dysfunction.

Objectives: To assess the associations of SUA levels with macrovascular and kidney microvascular dysfunction in individuals of sub-Saharan African ancestry and evaluate potential factors that could mediate these associations.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data from the multicenter Research on Obesity and Diabetes Among African Migrants study, conducted from 2012 to 2015, were performed from January to March 2021.

Inflammation and its associations with aortic stiffness, coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease in different ethnic groups: The HELIUS Study.

Background: evidence shows important ethnic differences in vascular dysfunction rates; however, the mechanisms driving these differences remain unclear. One potential factor is the ethnic differences in the role of inflammation in vascular injury. We tested the hypothesis that low-grade inflammation is unequally associated with vascular dysfunction in different ethnic groups.

Associations between macrovascular and renal microvascular dysfunction in type 2 diabetes and non-diabetes: the HELIUS study.

Background: Although the associations between measures of macrovascular and microvascular dysfunctions are well characterized in diabetes, there is limited data on these associations in individuals without diabetes. We compared the associations between macrovascular dysfunction and renal microvascular dysfunction in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and without diabetes.

Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data from the multiethnic Healthy Life in an Urban Setting (HELIUS) study (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), including 986 participants with T2D and 7680 participants without diabetes were done.

Psychosocial distress, clinical variables and self-management activities associated with type 2 diabetes: a study in Ghana.

Aim: Psychosocial distress can act as a barrier to diabetes self-care management and thus compromise diabetes control. Yet in Ghana, healthcare centres mainly focus on the medical aspect of diabetes to the neglect of psychosocial care. This study determined the relationship amongst psychosocial distress, clinical variables, and self-management activities associated with type 2 diabetes management.

Association between C reactive protein and microvascular and macrovascular dysfunction in sub-Saharan Africans with and without diabetes: the RODAM study.

Introduction: Although inflammation assessed by elevated C reactive protein (CRP) concentration is known to be associated with risk of cardiovascular disease, its association with microvascular and macrovascular dysfunction in diabetes and non-diabetes remains unclear. We examined the association between CRP and diabetes and associated microvascular and macrovascular dysfunction in sub-Saharan Africans with and without diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data from the multicenter RODAM study (Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants) including 5248 Ghanaians (583 with diabetes, 4665 without diabetes) aged 25-70 years were done.

Higher prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in Ghana compared to Ghanaian migrants in Europe: The RODAM study.

Background: Evidence suggests that the burden of peripheral artery disease (PAD) is rising more rapidly than other forms of cardiovascular diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, but the extent to which they differ between rural and urban settings in Africa and upon migration to Europe is unknown. We assessed the burden of PAD among Ghanaians living in rural- and urban-Ghana and Ghanaian migrants living in three European countries.

Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data from the multicenter Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study were done.

Type 2 diabetes complications and comorbidity in Sub-Saharan Africans.

Background: Context-specific evidence of the spectrum of type 2 diabetes (T2D) burden is essential for setting priorities and designing interventions to reduce associated morbidity and mortality. However, there are currently limited data on the burden of T2D complications and comorbidity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Methods: T2D complications and comorbidities were assessed in 2,784 participants with diabetes enrolled from tertiary health centres and contextualised in 3,209 individuals without diabetes in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

ZRANB3 is an African-specific type 2 diabetes locus associated with beta-cell mass and insulin response.

Genome analysis of diverse human populations has contributed to the identification of novel genomic loci for diseases of major clinical and public health impact. Here, we report a genome-wide analysis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in sub-Saharan Africans, an understudied ancestral group. We analyze ~18 million autosomal SNPs in 5,231 individuals from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

Microvascular and macrovascular complications in type 2 diabetes Ghanaian residents in Ghana and Europe: The RODAM study.

Aims: To compare microvascular and macrovascular complication rates among Ghanaians with type 2 diabetes (T2D) living in Ghana and in three European cities (Amsterdam, London and Berlin).

Methods: Data from the multicenter Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study were analyzed. 650 Ghanaian participants with T2D (206 non-migrant and 444 migrants) were included.

A Novel Gametocyte Biomarker for Superior Molecular Detection of the Plasmodium falciparum Infectious Reservoirs.

Background: Complete malaria eradication and optimal use of transmission-reducing interventions require knowledge of submicroscopic infectious reservoirs among asymptomatic individuals. Even submicroscopic levels of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes can infect mosquitoes and promote onward transmission. Most efforts to identify gametocyte carriers use polymerase chain reaction amplification of the gametocyte-specific transcript Pfs25.

Predictors of quality of life in patients with diabetes mellitus in two tertiary health institutions in Ghana and Nigeria.

Background: Patients with chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) usually have a relatively poor quality of life (QoL), because the cost of care (living expenses and health) or diet restrictions are heavily felt by these patients, and this is of a public health concern. However, limited data on DM QoL exist in Ghana and Nigeria. This makes it imperative for data to be collated in that regard.

Genome-wide analysis identifies an african-specific variant in SEMA4D associated with body mass index.

Objective: The prevalence of obesity varies between ethnic groups. No genome-wide association study (GWAS) for body mass index (BMI) has been conducted in continental Africans.

Methods: We performed a GWAS for BMI in 1,570 West Africans (WA).

Arterial stiffness in hypertensive and type 2 diabetes patients in Ghana: comparison of the cardio-ankle vascular index and central aortic techniques.

Background: Diabetes and hypertension increase arterial stiffness and cardiovascular events in all societies studied so far; sub-Saharan African studies are sparse. We investigated factors affecting arterial function in Ghanaians with diabetes, hypertension, both or neither.

Method: Testing the hypothesis that arterial stiffness would progressively increase from controls to multiply affected patients, 270 participants were stratified into those with diabetes or hypertension only, with both, or without either.

Peripheral sensory neuropathy in type 2 diabetes patients: A case control study in Accra, Ghana.

Objective: Peripheral sensory neuropathy (PSN) is a common cause of ulceration and amputation in diabetes (DM) patients. The prevalence of PSN in DM patients is largely undetermined in sub-Saharan African population. We studied the burden of PSN in DM patients using a validated questionnaire and quantitative sensory test.

Body composition and ankle-brachial index in Ghanaians with asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease in a tertiary hospital.

Background: Ankle-brachial index (ABI) and indices of obesity are both use to indicate cardiovascular risk. However, association between body composition indices and ABI, a measure of peripheral arterial disease, is inconsistent in various study reports. In this study, we investigated the relationship between ABI and general and central indices of obesity in Ghanaians without history of cardiovascular diseases.

Peripheral artery disease and exertional leg symptoms in diabetes patients in Ghana.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a major health problem in diabetes patients in high-income countries, but the PAD burden in sub-Saharan Africa is largely undetermined. We studied the prevalence of PAD and exertional leg symptoms in diabetes (DM) patients in a tertiary hospital in Ghana.

Methods: In a case control study design, 485 DM and 330 non-diabetes participants were recruited.

Evaluation of Genome Wide Association Study Associated Type 2 Diabetes Susceptibility Loci in Sub Saharan Africans.

Genome wide association studies (GWAS) for type 2 diabetes (T2D) undertaken in European and Asian ancestry populations have yielded dozens of robustly associated loci. However, the genomics of T2D remains largely understudied in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where rates of T2D are increasing dramatically and where the environmental background is quite different than in these previous studies. Here, we evaluate 106 reported T2D GWAS loci in continental Africans.