Key result
Task shifting to non-physicians provides a viable strategy to improve hypertension control in Africa.
Why the study?
Hypertension diagnosis, awareness, and treatment rates are suboptimal in low- and middle-income countries, where an enormous gap between disease burden and physician-patient ratios needs to be bridged.
Task sharing and task shifting to non-physician health workers offers a viable temporary solution to improve hypertension management in Africa amidst severe physician shortages.
May support non-physician roles in African hypertension care; leaves open need for RCTs on scalability and durability.
Hypertension is a leading cause of mortality globally and one of the most common risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Diagnosis, awareness, and optimal treatment rates are suboptimal, especially in low- and middle-income countries, with attendant high health consequences and grave socioeconomic impact. There is an enormous gap between disease burden and physician-patient ratios that needs to be bridged. Task sharing and task shifting (TSTS) provide a viable temporary solution. However, sociocultural, demographic, and economic factors influence the effective uptake of such interventions. This review discusses the dynamics of TSTS in the African context looking at challenges, feasibility, and approach to adopt it in the management of hypertension in Africa.
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Adejumo et al. (2024) conducted a review in Hypertension. Task Sharing and Task Shifting (TSTS) was evaluated. Task sharing and task shifting to non-physician health workers provides a viable strategy to improve hypertension management and blood pressure control in Africa.
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