The Effectiveness of Community Health Workers for CVD Prevention in LMIC.

Aditya K Khetan, Raghunandan Purushothaman, Tarek Chami, Vittal Hejjaji, Sri Krishna Madan Mohan, Richard A Josephson, Allison R Webel

Journal: Global heart 2018;12(3):233-243.e6

PMID: 27993594

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Abstract

Community health workers (CHW) may be effective in tackling the burden of cardiovascular diseases in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This review examines whether CHWs can improve the identification and control of cardiovascular risk factors in LMIC. We searched for studies that used CHW as a basis for cardiovascular risk factor management. Our search yielded 11 articles that targeted cardiovascular risk factor assessment, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, diet and physical activity. There were 4 randomized controlled trials, 3 quasi-experimental studies, 3 cross-sectional studies, and 1 retrospective analysis. Eight studies reported positive results with CHW being able to effectively screen for cardiovascular risk factors, decrease systolic blood pressure, decrease fasting blood glucose, increase quit rates of smoking, decrease weight, and improve diet and physical activity. Our review demonstrates that CHW may be effective in helping tackle the burden of cardiovascular disease in LMIC.

Address: Department of Medicine, University Hospitals Health System, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.; Department of Medicine, University Hospitals Health System, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.; Department of Medicine, Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute, University Hospitals Health System, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.; Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.

DOI: 10.1016/j.gheart.2016.07.001