The Influence of Family Physicians Within the South African District Health System: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Health policy-makers in Africa are looking for local solutions to strengthen primary care teams. A South African national position paper (2015) described six aspirational roles of family physicians (FPs) working within the district health system. However, the actual contributions of FPs are unclear at present, and evidence is required as to how this cadre may be able to strengthen health systems. Methods: Using semi-structured interviews, this study sought to obtain the views of South African district health managers regarding the impact made by FPs within their districts on health system performance, clinical processes and health outcomes. Results: A number of benefits of FPs to the health system in South Africa were confirmed, including: their ability to enhance the functionality of the local health system by increasing access to a more comprehensive and coordinated health service, and by improving clinical services delivered through clinical care, capacitating the local health team and facilitating clinical governance activities. Conclusions: District managers confirmed the importance of all six roles of the FP and expressed both direct and indirect ways in which FPs contribute to strengthening health systems’ performance and clinical outcomes. FPs were seen as important clinical leaders within the district healthcare team. Managers recognised the need to support newly appointed FPs to clarify their roles within the healthcare team and to mature across all their roles. This study supports the employment of FPs at scale within the South African district health system according to the national position paper on family medicine. (Full text of the research articles are available online at www.medpharm.tandfonline.com/ojfp) S Afr Fam Pract 2018; DOI: 10.1080/20786190.2017.1348047

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Association between obesity and urinary albumin-creatinine ratio in the middle-aged and elderly population of Southern and Northern China: a cross-sectional study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040214 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. e040214

Author(s):

Shan Qin ◽

Anping Wang ◽

Shi Gu ◽

Weiqing Wang ◽

Zhengnan Gao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Kidney Diseases ◽

Northern China ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Urinary Albumin ◽

Creatinine Ratio ◽

Sectional Study ◽

The South ◽

Northern Population ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Albumin Creatinine Ratio

ObjectiveThe relationship between obesity and albuminuria has not been clarified. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between obesity and the urinary albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR) in Southern and Northern China.DesignA descriptive, cross-sectional study.SettingEight regional centres in REACTION (China’s Risk Evaluation of cAncers in Chinese diabeTic Individuals, a lONgitudinal study), including Dalian, Lanzhou, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Guangxi, Luzhou, Shanghai and Wuhan.ParticipantsA total of 41 085 patients who were not diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and had good compliance were selected according to the inclusion criteria. Patients who were diagnosed with CKD, who had other kidney diseases that could lead to increased urinary protein excretion, who were using angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers and whose important data were missing were excluded.ResultsParticipants with both, central and peripheral obesity, had a higher risk of elevated UACR, even after adjusting for multiple factors (OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.12, p<0.001), and the risk of high UACR in the South was more prominent than that in the North (OR South: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.11 to 1.34; OR North: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.22, p<0.001). The risk was also elevated in the male population, hypertensive individuals, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c)≥6.5% and age ≥60 years in the South. Besides the above groups, diabetes was also a risk factor for the Northern population.ConclusionsIn China, people with both central and peripheral obesity are prone to a high UACR, and the southern population has a higher risk than northern population. Factors such as male sex, hypertension, HbA1c≥6.5% and an age ≥60 years are also risk factors for CKD.

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Concordance between fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c in the diagnosis of diabetes in black South African adults: a cross-sectional study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046060 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. e046060

Author(s):

Alisha N Wade ◽

Nigel J Crowther ◽

Shafika Abrahams-Gessel ◽

Lisa Berkman ◽

Jaya A George ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Insulin Resistance ◽

South African ◽

Plasma Glucose ◽

Fat Distribution ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Sectional Study ◽

South African Population ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Black South African

ObjectivesWe investigated concordance between haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)-defined diabetes and fasting plasma glucose (FPG)-defined diabetes in a black South African population with a high prevalence of obesity.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingRural South African population-based cohort.Participants765 black individuals aged 40–70 years and with no history of diabetes.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcome measure was concordance between HbA1c-defined diabetes and FPG-defined diabetes. Secondary outcome measures were differences in anthropometric characteristics, fat distribution and insulin resistance (measured using Homoeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR)) between those with concordant and discordant HbA1c/FPG classifications and predictors of HbA1c variance.ResultsThe prevalence of HbA1c-defined diabetes was four times the prevalence of FPG-defined diabetes (17.5% vs 4.2%). Classification was discordant in 15.7% of participants, with 111 individuals (14.5%) having HbA1c-only diabetes (kappa 0.23; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.31). Median body mass index, waist and hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, subcutaneous adipose tissue and HOMA-IR in participants with HbA1c-only diabetes were similar to those in participants who were normoglycaemic by both biomarkers and significantly lower than in participants with diabetes by both biomarkers (p<0.05). HOMA-IR and fat distribution explained additional HbA1c variance beyond glucose and age only in women.ConclusionsConcordance was poor between HbA1c and FPG in diagnosis of diabetes in black South Africans, and participants with HbA1c-only diabetes phenotypically resembled normoglycaemic participants. Further work is necessary to determine which of these parameters better predicts diabetes-related morbidities in this population and whether a population-specific HbA1c threshold is necessary.

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