Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Portland State University

Conference

2024

Epidemiology

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Strong Hearts Program: The Results Of A Novel Primary-Care Based Diagnostic And Referral Program For Chagas Disease In East Boston, Ma, Usa, Javier J. Huerta Apr 2024

Strong Hearts Program: The Results Of A Novel Primary-Care Based Diagnostic And Referral Program For Chagas Disease In East Boston, Ma, Usa, Javier J. Huerta

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Purpose: Chagas disease (CD), a neglected parasitic infection, affects ~300,000 people in the US. Untreated, CD leads to irreversible cardiac morbidity and death in 20-30% of cases, yet

Methods: After provider and community sessions, 14,354 patients were screened at EBNHC from March 2017 - May 2023, following a prespecified protocol. Confirmed Chagas patients were referred to Boston Medical Center for further evaluation. Using chi-squared tests, we analyze diagnostic uptake and prevalence stratified by demographics. Additionally, we abstracted care continuum barriers from Chagas patients' records.

Results: Per quarter, a median of 572 patients were screened (IQR: 393 – 712). …