Journal article
Adherence to secondary antibiotic prophylaxis for patients with rheumatic heart disease diagnosed through screening in Fiji
D Engelman, RL Mataika, JH Kado, M Ah Kee, S Donath, T Parks, AC Steer
Tropical Medicine and International Health | WILEY | Published : 2016
DOI: 10.1111/tmi.12796
Abstract
Objectives: Echocardiographic screening for rheumatic heart disease (RHD) can detect subclinical cases; however, adequate adherence to secondary antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP) is required to alter disease outcomes. We aimed to investigate the adherence to SAP among young people with RHD diagnosed through echocardiographic screening in Fiji and to investigate factors associated with adherence. Methods: Patients diagnosed with RHD through echocardiographic screening in Fiji from 2006 to 2014 were included. Dates of benzathine penicillin G injections were collected from 76 health clinics nationally from December 2011 to December 2014. Adherence was measured using the proportion of days covered (P..
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Awarded by Medical Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the support and assistance of health clinic staff, the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services and Fiji RHD Control Program. Jonathan Carapetis, Terry Nolan, Jim Tulloch, Samantha Colquhoun and Brenton Ward provided valuable advice on study design. This project was supported by Cure Kids New Zealand. DE and ACS are both supported by Australian National Health and Medical Research Council/National Heart Foundation research fellowships. DE is also supported by the University of Melbourne Nossal Global Scholars program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.