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.
Background: There is increasing evidence of a higher risk and poorer prognosis of cervical cancer among women with diabetes mellitus (DM) compared to the general population. These are mediated by higher susceptibility to persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) infection due to dysfunctional clearance in an immunocompromised state. We aimed to determine the prevalence of hr-HPV infection and cervical lesions in a cohort of women with DM in Ghana.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To investigate the prevalence of macrovascular and non-ocular microvascular complications and the associated factors among children and adolescents with diabetes mellitus in selected hospitals in southern Ghana.
Design: A cross-sectional study.
Setting: The out-patient clinics of the Departments of Child Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, Family Medicine, Ophthalmology, and the National Diabetes Management and Research Centre, all at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, as well as from Cape-Coast Teaching Hospital in the Central Region of Ghana.
Background: Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is associated with a high case fatality rate in resource-limited settings. The independent predictors of poor outcome after ICH in sub-Saharan Africa remains to be characterized in large epidemiological studies. We aimed to determine factors associated with 30-day fatality among West African patients with ICH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe co-existence of pheochromocytoma and pregnancy is rare, with poor maternal and foetal outcomes. This is a case report of a young Ghanaian woman with a pre-existing diagnosis of recurrent pheochromocytoma who became pregnant and experienced elevated blood pressure in the third trimester with proteinuria and abnormal liver function. She was managed as an in-patient and delivered a live baby via caesarean section at 34 weeks after detecting intra-uterine growth restriction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a common, severe and often fatal complication of diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and precipitants of DKA, as well as factors associated with DKA severity in Ghanaian patients.
Methods: Cross-sectional study of the medical records of all 70 adult patients >18 years managed for DKA in the adult emergency room of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana from March 2019 to July 2019.
Background: Every minute, six indigenous Africans develop new strokes. Patient-level and system-level contributors to early stroke fatality in this region are yet to be delineated. We aimed to identify and quantify the contributions of patient-level and system-level determinants of inpatient stroke fatality across 16 hospitals in Ghana and Nigeria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Stroke is a leading cause of disability and mortality worldwide, but little is known about the contribution of secondhand smoke exposure (SHSE) to stroke epidemiology among indigenous Africans.
Objective: To evaluate the association of SHSE with stroke among indigenous Africans.
Methods: We analyzed the relationship of SHSE with stroke among 2990 case-control pairs of adults who had never smoked (identified in the SIREN study) using conditional logistic regression at a two-sided P < 0.
Background: There are limited data from Africa on the burden and associations between pre-diabetes (pre-DM), diabetes mellitus (DM) and stroke occurrence in a region experiencing a profound rise in stroke burden.
Purpose: To characterize the associations between stroke and dysglycemic status among West Africans.
Methods: The Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network (SIREN) is a multicenter, case-control study involving 15 sites in Ghana and Nigeria.
Background: Radiotherapy is a valuable treatment in the management algorithm of pituitary adenomas and craniopharyngiomas. However, the risk of second brain tumour following radiotherapy is a major concern. We assessed this risk using non-irradiated patients with the same primary pathology and imaging surveillance as controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness in many countries across the world. Ghana has seen a rise in diabetic retinopathy and is working on various strategies to prevent blindness. Clinical guidelines are seen as a promising strategy for improving quality and reducing cost of care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: 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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The relationship of diet with stroke risk among Africans is not well understood.
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between dietary patterns and stroke risk among West Africans.
Methods: In this multi-center case-control study, 3684 stroke patients matched (for age and sex) with 3684 healthy controls were recruited from Nigeria and Ghana.
Background And Purpose: To identify the qualitative and quantitative contributions of conventional risk factors for occurrence of ischemic stroke and its key pathophysiologic subtypes among West Africans.
Methods: The SIREN (Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network) is a multicenter, case-control study involving 15 sites in Ghana and Nigeria. Cases include adults aged ≥18 years with ischemic stroke who were etiologically subtyped using the A-S-C-O-D classification into atherosclerosis, small-vessel occlusion, cardiac pathology, other causes, and dissection.
J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis
October 2021
Background: Stroke risk can be quantified using risk factors whose effect sizes vary by geography and race. No stroke risk assessment tool exists to estimate aggregate stroke risk for indigenous African.
Objectives: To develop Afrocentric risk-scoring models for stroke occurrence.
Unlabelled: The study examined the clinical characteristics and outcomes of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections among hospitalized patients.
Design: Study design was a retrospective single-center review of hospital data.
Setting: The study was conducted at the COVID-19 Treatment Center of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics of the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital in Accra, Ghana.
Background: Diabetes is associated with premature morbidity and mortality from its many complications. There are limited data on the chronic complications of diabetes in children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.
Objective: The study aims to determine the (1) burden and related factors of chronic systemic complications of diabetes, including diabetic and nondiabetic ocular conditions in children and adolescents, and (2) quality of life (QoL) of participants compared to healthy controls.
Objectives: Depression is a risk factor for stroke. There is a knowledge gap on the predictors of prestroke depression in stroke survivors living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We estimated prevalence and predictors of prestroke depression, as well as its association with poststroke depression (PSD) in the largest study of stroke in Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: 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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Glucocorticoids (steroids) play a key role in the management of multiple medical conditions including haematological disorders. This study looked at the prevalence of steroid induced dysglycaemia in patients with haematological disorders receiving steroids as part of their treatment with the view of modifying its use and selection of patients where necessary.
Methods: A retrospective review of haematology patients on treatment regimens including steroids.
Background and Purpose- The interplay between sex and the dominant risk factors for stroke occurrence in sub-Saharan Africa has not been clearly delineated. We compared the effect sizes of risk factors of stroke by sex among West Africans. Methods- SIREN study (Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Networks) is a case-control study conducted at 15 sites in Ghana and Nigeria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Craniotomy and transphenoidal microsurgery are surgical options for treatment of pituitary adenoma at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital(KBTH). Despite major advances and reported success rates of transphenoidal resection globally, paucity of local data regarding visual outcome of either procedure exists. We evaluated the visual outcome of patient with pituitary adenoma following surgery in a tertiary hospital in Ghana.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Diabetes and depression are both chronic debilitating conditions, and their coexistence has been associated with adverse outcomes. In this study, we investigated the association between glycaemic control and depression in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients attending a tertiary healthcare facility in Ghana.
Methodology: In a cross-sectional study design, Patient Health Questionnare-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess depression in 400 T2DM, aged 30-65 years.