Current Updates
Dr. Manuela Fritz and co-authors publish a study on the effectiveness of community-based health programs in Southeast Asia to detect and treat chronic diseases at an early stage
Manuela Fritz recently published a study with a team of researchers from Indonesia, Vietnam, Germany and the Netherlands entitled “Effectiveness of community-based diabetes and hypertension prevention and management programmes in Indonesia and Viet Nam: a quasi-experimental study” in BMJ Global Health. The study investigates whether community-based prevention and management programmes for chronic diseases are an effective solution to prevent diabetes and hypertension and which factors contribute to the success of such programmes. The study is based on data from more than 3,000 members of such groups, which were collected over a period of 4 years in the scope of the EU-Horizon project SUNI-SEA.
You can read more about the SUNI-SEA project on their website.
Introduction: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have surpassed infectious diseases as the leading global cause of death, with the Southeast Asian region experiencing a significant rise in NCD prevalence over the past decades. Despite the escalating burden, screening for NCDs remains at very low levels, resulting in undetected cases, premature mortality and high public healthcare costs. This study investigates whether community-based NCD prevention and management programmes are an effective solution.
Methods: In Indonesia, participants in the community-based NCD screening and management programme Pos Pembinaan Terpadu-Penyakit Tidak Menular were compared with matched non-participants with respect to their uptake of screening activities, health-related behaviour and knowledge and metabolic risk factors. The study uses statistical matching to redress a possible selection bias (n=1669). In Viet Nam, members of Intergenerational Self-Help Clubs, which were offered similar NCD health services, were compared with members of other community groups, where such services were not offered. The study can rely on two waves of data and use a double-difference approach to redress a possible selection bias and to measure the impacts of participation (n=1710). The study discusses strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches in Indonesia and Viet Nam.
Results: In Indonesia, participants have significantly higher uptake of screening for hypertension and diabetes (+13% from a control mean of 88% (95% CI 9% to 17%); +93% from a control mean of 48% (95% CI 79% to 108%)). In both countries, participants show a higher knowledge about risk factors, symptoms and complications of NCDs (Indonesia: +0.29 SD (0.13–0.45), Viet Nam: +0.17 SD (0.03–0.30)). Yet, the improved knowledge is only partly reflected in improved health behaviour (Viet Nam: fruit consumption +0.33 SD (0.15–0.51), vegetable consumption +0.27 SD (0.04–0.50)), body mass index (BMI) (Viet Nam: BMI −0.07 SD (−0.13 to −0.00)) or metabolic risk factors (Indonesia: systolic blood pressure: −0.13 SD (−0.26 to −0.00)).
Conclusion: Community-based NCD programmes are well suited to increase screening and to transmit health knowledge. Due to their extensive outreach within the community, they can serve as a valuable complement to the screening services provided at the primary healthcare level. Yet, limited coverage, insufficient resources and a high staff turnover remain a problem.
To learn more about Manuela Fritz´ research interests you can visit her website profile.