Integrating testing for chronic strongyloidiasis within the Indigenous adult preventive health assessment system in endemic communities in the Northern Territory, Australia: An intervention study
Page, Wendy A., Judd, Jenni A., MacLaren, David J., and Buettner, Petra (2020) Integrating testing for chronic strongyloidiasis within the Indigenous adult preventive health assessment system in endemic communities in the Northern Territory, Australia: An intervention study. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 14 (5). e0008232.
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Abstract
Background
The life-threatening clinical manifestations of strongyloidiasis are preventable with early detection and effective treatment. The aim of this study was to assess if there was an increase to the number and proportion of persons tested for chronic strongyloidiasis, as a result of integrating Strongyloides stercoralis serology into the existing preventive health assessment system in four Aboriginal health services in endemic communities.
Methodology
A prospective, longitudinal, before-and-after intervention study was conducted in four Aboriginal health services in remote endemically infected communities in the Northern Territory, Australia, from July 2012 to December 2016. The electronic patient information and recall systems enabled the integration of Strongyloides stercoralis serology into the adult preventive health assessment. Strongyloides reports for each health service were extracted half-yearly to examine the number and proportion of persons tested for chronic strongyloidiasis during the study and to measure the effect of the intervention.
Principal findings
The number and proportion of persons tested increased significantly during the study. From a total resident population of 3650 Indigenous adults over 15 years of age, 1686 persons (47.4%) were tested. The percentage of adults who had at least one serology test increased in all four health services to between 41% (446/1086) and 81.9% (172/210). Of the 1686 persons tested, 680 positive cases of chronic strongyloidiasis (40.3%) were identified.
Conclusions/Significance
This population health systems intervention increased the number and proportion of persons tested for chronic strongyloidiasis in four health services in endemically infected communities. This intervention is relevant to other health services with high-risk populations.
| Item ID: | 64165 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1935-2735 |
| Copyright Information: | © 2020 Page et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Aug 2020 07:34 |
| FoR Codes: | 45 INDIGENOUS STUDIES > 4504 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing > 450418 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remote health @ 100% |
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