Incidence, prevalence and risk factors for comorbid mental illness among people with hypertension and type 2 diabetes in West Africa: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Mental illness remains a significant global health concern that affects diverse populations, including individuals living with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes, predominantly in lower-income to middle-income countries. The association between non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental illness is firmly established globally, however, this connection has yet to be comprehensively explored in West Africa. Our systematic review and meta-analysis aim to synthesise existing evidence on the prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for comorbid mental illness with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes in West Africa.

The use of telehealth technology for lifestyle modification among patients with hypertension in Nigeria and Ghana.

Introduction: Sedentary lifestyle and consumption of an unhealthy diet are significantly associated with hypertension in Nigeria and Ghana. Increasing the uptake of physical activity and diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been a challenge in the region. This study aimed at assessing the effect of a mobile health intervention (mhealth) on physical activity, and fruits and vegetables intake in patients with hypertension in Nigeria and Ghana.

Co-creation of a toolkit to assist risk communication and clinical decision-making in severe preeclampsia: SPOT-Impact study design.

Globally, the incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, especially preeclampsia, remains high, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The burden of adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes is particularly high for women who develop a hypertensive disorder remote from term (<34 weeks). In parallel, many women have a suboptimal experience of care.

Ethical considerations for biobanking and use of genomics data in Africa: a narrative review.

Background: Biobanking and genomic research requires collection and storage of human tissue from study participants. From participants' perspectives within the African context, this can be associated with fears and misgivings due to a myriad of factors including myths and mistrust of researchers. From the researchers angle ethical dilemmas may arise especially with consenting and sample reuse during storage.

Strategies to improve interpersonal communication along the continuum of maternal and newborn care: A scoping review and narrative synthesis.

Effective interpersonal communication is essential to provide respectful and quality maternal and newborn care (MNC). This scoping review mapped, categorized, and analysed strategies implemented to improve interpersonal communication within MNC up to 42 days after birth. Twelve bibliographic databases were searched for quantitative and qualitative studies that evaluated interventions to improve interpersonal communication between health workers and women, their partners or newborns' families.

The effect of mobile health technology on blood pressure control among patients with hypertension in Ghana and Nigeria.

Background: More than half of patients with hypertension in sub-Saharan African do not achieve blood pressure control. This study determined the effect of mobile health technology on systolic blood pressure reduction and blood pressure (BP) control among patients with hypertension in Nigeria and Ghana.

Methods: A randomised control trial of 225 adults with hypertension attending two General/Medical Outpatient Clinics each in Nigeria and Ghana was randomized into intervention (n = 116) and control (n = 109) arm respectively.

Impact of antenatal care on severe maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and eclampsia in Ghana.

Objectives: To explore how specific measures of antenatal care utilization are associated with outcomes in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and eclampsia in Ghana.

Study Design: Participants were adult pregnant women with preeclampsia or eclampsia at a tertiary hospital in Ghana. Antenatal care utilization measures included timing of first visit, total visits, facility and provider type, and referral status.

Ethical considerations for Biobanking and Use of Genomics Data in Africa: A narrative review.

Background: Biobanking and genomic research requires collection and storage of human tissue from study participants. From participants' perspectives within the African context, this can be associated with fears and misgivings due to a myriad of factors including myths and mistrust of researchers. From the researchers angle ethical dilemmas may arise especially with consenting and sample reuse during storage.

Diabetes self-management education interventions and self-management in low-resource settings; a mixed methods study.

Introduction: Diabetes is largely a self-managed disease; thus, care outcomes are closely linked to self-management behaviours. Structured self-management education (DSME) interventions are, however, largely unavailable in Africa.

Aim: We sought to characterise DSME interventions in two urban low-resource primary settings; and to explore diabetes self-management knowledge and behaviours, of persons living with diabetes (PLD).

Change in glycaemic control with structured diabetes self-management education in urban low-resource settings: multicentre randomised trial of effectiveness.

Background: In high-resource settings, structured diabetes self-management education is associated with improved outcomes but the evidence from low-resource settings is limited and inconclusive.

Aim: To compare, structured diabetes self-management education to usual care, in adults with type 2 diabetes, in low-resource settings.

Design: Single-blind randomised parallel comparator controlled multi-centre trial.

Medication adherence and blood pressure control: A preliminary assessment of the role of health insurance in Nigeria and Ghana.

Objectives: This study sought to assess the current impact of health insurance coverage on medication adherence and blood pressure control of patients being managed for hypertension in Ghana and Nigeria.

Methods: The study was a prospective study among 109 patients with hypertension in two health facilities with similar population dynamics in Ghana and Nigeria. Patients were systematically selected, categorized as having health insurance coverage or not, and followed up monthly for 6 months.

Obstetric referral processes and the role of inter-facility communication: the district-level experience in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.

Objective: To describe the capacity of primary health care facilities to manage obstetric referrals, the reasons, and processes for managing obstetric referrals, and how an enhanced inter-facility communication system may have influenced these.

Design: Mixed methods comparing data before and during the intervention period.

Setting: Three districts in the Greater Accra region, Ghana from May 2017 to February 2018.

Utility of early diagnosis, contact tracing and stakeholder engagement in outbreak response in three COVID-19 outbreak settings in Ghana.

Objective: To describe how early case detection, testing and contact tracing measures were deployed by stakeholders in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana - using three outbreak scenarios.

Design: A descriptive assessment of three case studies of COVID-19 outbreaks within three settings that occurred in Ghana from March 13 till the end of June 2020.

Setting: A construction camp, a factory and a training institution in Ghana.

Structured diabetes self-management education and glycaemic control in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.

Aim: To determine the association between structured diabetes self-management education (DSME) and glycaemic control in persons living with diabetes (PLD) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases were searched up to June 2020 for intervention studies on the effect of structured DSME on glycaemic control in PLD in LMICs (PROSPERO registration CRD42020164857). The primary outcome was reduction in glycated haemoglobin.

Advancing non-communicable diseases research in Ghana: key stakeholders' recommendations from a symposium.

Unlabelled: There has been a growing increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) globally with reports suggesting that the fastest increase in NCD deaths in the world will occur in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the next 5 to 15 years. Despite the projected increase in NCD-related deaths, there is little coordinated research in many West African nations, including Ghana, to quantify and study this burden and to translate the research findings into policy and practice. To address these challenges, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the Navrongo Health Research Centre, both in Ghana, with support from the Wits NCD Research Leadership Training Program organized a two-day symposium to discuss the advancement of NCD research in the West African sub-region.

Can an mhealth clinical decision-making support system improve adherence to neonatal healthcare protocols in a low-resource setting?

Background: This study assessed health workers' adherence to neonatal health protocols before and during the implementation of a mobile health (mHealth) clinical decision-making support system (mCDMSS) that sought to bridge access to neonatal health protocol gap in a low-resource setting.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional document review within two purposively selected clusters (one poorly-resourced and one well-resourced), from each arm of a cluster-randomized trial at two different time points: before and during the trial. The total trial consisted of 16 clusters randomized into 8 intervention and 8 control clusters to assess the impact of an mCDMSS on neonatal mortality in Ghana.

Decision-making preferences and risk factors regarding early adolescent pregnancy in Ghana: stakeholders' and adolescents' perspectives from a vignette-based qualitative study.

Background: Worldwide, over half of the adolescent pregnancies recorded are unintended. The decision to continue the pregnancy to term or to opt for an abortion is a constant dilemma that is directly or indirectly influenced by stakeholders and also by the wider social environment. This study aimed at understanding the perceived decision-making preferences and determinants of early adolescent pregnancy in the Jamestown area of Accra in Ghana.

Coverage of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) influences delivery outcomes among women with obstetric referrals at the district level in Ghana.

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the coverage of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) and its relationship with delivery outcomes among obstetric referral cases at the district level of healthcare.

Methods: An implementation research within three districts of the Greater Accra region was conducted from May 2017 to February 2018, to assess the role of an enhanced inter-facility communication system on processes and outcomes of obstetric referrals. A cross-sectional analysis of the data on IPTp coverage as well as delivery outcomes for the period of study was conducted, for all the referrals ending up in deliveries.

Systematic review of prediction models for gestational hypertension and preeclampsia.

Introduction: Prediction models for gestational hypertension and preeclampsia have been developed with data and assumptions from developed countries. Their suitability and application for low resource settings have not been tested. This review aimed to identify and assess the methodological quality of prediction models for gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia with reference to their application in low resource settings.

A critical review of intervention and policy effects on the health of older people in sub-Saharan Africa.

This paper provides a critical review of publications containing information about specific health effects on older adults of interventions and policies in sub-Saharan Africa. Interventions and policies fell into the following categories: testing or treating HIV, the provision of pensions, screening for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), health service financing and interventions related to visual conditions. The review finds that the relevant literature is very limited relative to the size of older populations in the region.

Attitudes towards abortion and decision-making capacity of pregnant adolescents: perspectives of medicine, midwifery and law students in Accra, Ghana.

Because medical, midwifery and law students in Ghana constitute the next generation of health care and legal practitioners, this study aimed to evaluate their attitudes towards abortion and their perceptions of the decision-making capacity of pregnant adolescents. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 340 medical, midwifery and law students. A pretested and validated questionnaire was used to collect relevant data on respondents' sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes towards abortion and the perceived capacity and rationality of pregnant adolescents' decisions.

Prognostic models for adverse pregnancy outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Introduction: Ninety-nine per cent of all maternal and neonatal deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC). Prognostic models can provide standardised risk assessment to guide clinical management and can be vital to reduce and prevent maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. This review provides a comprehensive summary of prognostic models for adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes developed and/or validated in LMIC.

Old age and depression in Ghana: assessing and addressing diagnosis and treatment gaps.

: There is limited evidence about the prevalence of depression among older people in sub-Saharan Africa, about access to treatment or the potential efficacy of community-based interventions.: Using nationally representative data from the WHO SAGE survey, we examine the prevalence of and factors associated with depression among people aged 50 and over in Ghana. Compare self-reported diagnosis and a symptom algorithm to assess treatment gaps and factors associated with the size of gap.

Correction: To keep or not to keep? Decision making in adolescent pregnancies in Jamestown, Ghana.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.