Community-based screening for cardiovascular risk using a novel mHealth tool in rural Kenya

Abstract

Background: An increasing burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in low-resource settings demands innovative public health approaches. Objectives: To design and test a novel mHealth tool for use by community health workers (CHWs) to identify individuals at high CVD risk who would benefit from education and/or pharmacologic interventions. Methods: We designed and implemented a novel two-way mobile phone application, “AFYACHAT,” to rapidly screen for CVD risk in rural Kenya. AFYACHAT collects and stores SMS text message data entered by a CHW on a subject’s age, sex, smoking, diabetes, and systolic blood pressure, and returns as SMS text message the category of 10-year CVD risk: “GREEN” (140mmHg), diabetes, and tobacco use were 23%, 3.2%, and 22%, respectively. Overall, the 10-year risk of CVD among patients was <10% in 2778 (97%) patients, 10 to <20% in 65 (2.3%), 20 to <30% in 12 (0.4%), and ≥30% in 10 (0.2%). Conclusion: We have developed a mHealth tool that can be used by CHWs to screen for CVD risk factors, demonstrating proof-of-concept in rural Kenya.

Keywords

• mHealth
• Africa
• cardiovascular disease