ArticleBMC cardiovascular disorders2023
Sub-clinical rheumatic heart disease (RHD) detected by hand-held echocardiogram in children participating in a school-based RHD prevention program in Tanzania.
Article in BMC cardiovascular disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cardiac and Obstetric Complications of Pregnant Women with Rheumatic Heart Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.Global heart · 2026Pooled it
- Global prevalence and sex differences in rheumatic heart disease: a systematic review and updated meta-analysis.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Electrocardiographic Digital Biomarkers in Asymptomatic Schoolchildren with Rheumatic Heart Disease.Pediatric cardiology · 2026Article
- Review
- Review
- Global disparities in the detection and management of rheumatic heart disease in pregnancy across endemic settings.Frontiers in surgery · 2026Review
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices in cardiometabolic health among adolescents and adults in HIV care in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Comparison of Six Handheld Ultrasound Devices by Pediatric Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Experts.POCUS journal · 2025Article
- Self-Supervised Multi-Task Learning for the Detection and Classification of RHD-Induced Valvular Pathology.Journal of imaging · 2025Article
- Stakeholders' perspectives on the management and prevention of non-communicable diseases in rural Tanzania: SWOC analysis prior to PEN Plus implementation.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Rheumatic Valvulopathy in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cross-Sectional Study of Cameroonian Urban Schools.Global heart · 2025Article
- Changes in the burden and underlying causes of rheumatic heart disease in children and youths, 1990-2021: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Article
- Risk Factors for Acute Rheumatic Disease: Exploring Factors at Individual and Collective Levels.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2024Review
- Detection and management of latent rheumatic heart disease: a narrative review.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2023Review
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) continues to cause suffering and premature deaths in many sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, where the disease is still endemic. RHD is largely preventable and determining its community burden is an important critical step in any RHD prevention program.
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study of 5-16 years old pupils from 11 primary schools participating in an RHD prevention program in 4 districts in Tanzania, between 2018 and 2019. At the school, all children were invited to participate after receiving consent from their parents/guardians. Participating children filled a questionnaire and were auscultated for cardiac murmurs. Echocardiographic screening was done by two experienced cardiologists, using a hand-held machine (V-Scan, GE®). All positive screening tests were stored for further examination by the same two cardiologists to reach to a consensus of definite, borderline or no RHD, using a modified World Heart Federation (WHF) criterion.
resultsOf the 6895 children invited, 4738 (68.7%) were screened and 4436 (64.3%) had complete data. The mean (SD) age was 10.04 (2.43) years, and 2422 (54.6%) were girls. Fifty three (1.2%) children were found to have a murmur. The proportion of children with trace or mild valvular regurgitation, sub-valvular/chordal thickening and valvular thickening/deformity were 8.3%, 1.3%, and 1.0%, respectively. Sub-clinical RHD was found in 95 children (59 definite and 36 borderline), giving a prevalence of 2.1%, [95% CI 1.7% - 2.6%]. Sub-clinical RHD was independently associated with female sex (aOR 1.83, 95% CI 1.18-2.85, p = 0.007), older age groups (aOR 1.73, 95% CI 1.10-2.72, p = 0.018 for age group 11-14 years; and aOR 3.02 95% CI 1.01-9.05, p = 0.048 for age group 15-16 years), as well as presence of a cardiac murmur, aOR 5.63 95% CI 2.31-13.69, p < 0.0001. None of the studied socio- or economic factors was associated with the presence of sub-clinical RHD in this study.
conclusionThe prevalence of sub-clinical RHD among primary school children in Tanzania is 2.1%, similar to previous reports in SSA. Efforts to prevent and control RHD in our communities are highly warranted.
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