TY  - JOUR
AU  - Awindaogo, Felix
AU  - Acheamfour-Akowuah, Emmanuel
AU  - Doku, Alfred
AU  - Kokuro, Collins
AU  - Agyekum, Francis
AU  - Owusu, Isaac Kofi
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/4/8
TI  - Assessing and Improving the Care of Patients With Heart Failure in Ghana: Protocol for a Prospective Observational Study and the Ghana Heart Initiative-Heart Failure Registry
JO  - JMIR Res Protoc
SP  - e52616
VL  - 13
KW  - clinical
KW  - cross-sectional
KW  - epidemiology
KW  - Ghana
KW  - heart failure
KW  - heart
KW  - management
KW  - medium-term
KW  - monitoring
KW  - mortality
KW  - outcome
KW  - patient data
KW  - prevention
KW  - protocol
KW  - teaching
KW  - treatment
AB  - Background: Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, with a high disease burden. The prevalence of HF in Ghana is increasing rapidly, but epidemiological profiles, treatment patterns, and survival data are scarce. The national capacity to diagnose and manage HF appropriately is also limited. To address the growing epidemic of HF, it is crucial to recognize the epidemiological characteristics and medium-term outcomes of HF in Ghana and improve the capability to identify and manage HF promptly and effectively at all levels of care. Objective: This study aims to determine the epidemiological characteristics and medium-term HF outcomes in Ghana. Methods: We conducted a prospective, multicenter, multilevel cross-sectional observational study of patients with HF from January to December 2023. Approximately 5000 patients presenting with HF to 9 hospitals, including teaching, regional, and municipal hospitals, will be recruited and evaluated according to a standardized protocol, including the use of an echocardiogram and an N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) test. Guideline-directed medical treatment of HF will be initiated for 6 months, and the medium-term outcomes of interventions, including rehospitalization and mortality, will be assessed. Patient data will be collated into a HF registry for continuous assessment and monitoring. Results: This intervention will generate the necessary information on the etiology of HF, clinical presentations, the diagnostic yield of various tools, and management outcomes. In addition, it will build the necessary capacity and support for HF management in Ghana. As of July 30, 2023, the training and onboarding of all 9 centers had been completed. Preliminary analyses will be conducted by the end of the second quarter of 2024, and results are expected to be publicly available by the middle of 2024. Conclusions: This study will provide the necessary data on HF, which will inform decisions on the prevention and management of HF and form the basis for future research. Trial Registration: ISRCTN Registry (United Kingdom) ISRCTN18216214; https:www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN18216214 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/52616 
SN  - 1929-0748
UR  - https://www.researchprotocols.org/2024/1/e52616
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/52616
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38588528
DO  - 10.2196/52616
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/52616
ER  -