https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6871-1552
Figures & data
Figure 1. Lira district, Northern Uganda.
This study took place at Lira Regional Referral Hospital, serving eight surrounding districts and approximately 2,000,000 persons.
Table 1. Three-stage program to develop TTE competency among non-experts.
Table 2. Comparison of agreement and accuracy between non-experts and experts (n = 454), 2(a) heart failure diagnosis and 2(b) Component diagnoses.
Figure 2. Study flow diagram.
The study consisted of two parts: part 1 focused on developing TTE competency among non-experts and part 2 focused on determining the impact of decentralized TTE.
Table 3. Demographics of enrolled patients in Phase 1 (pre-TTE) compared to Phase 2 (post-TTE).
Figure 3. Forest plot of diagnostic accuracy.
Introduction of TTE improved the specificity of heart failure diagnosis, showing with clinical impression alone dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertensive heart disease with preserved systolic function, and right heart failure were underdiagnosed and hypertensive heart disease with decreased systolic function was over-diagnosed.
Figure 4. Heart failure NOS diagnoses.
Prior to TTE, heart failure NOS was a common diagnostic category. TTE eliminated this category, revealing the etiology of symptoms, including those not in heart failure, in all cases.
Table 4. Comparison of outcomes between Phase 1 (pre-TTE) and Phase 2 (post-TTE).
