Percutaneous coronary intervention still not accessible for many South Africans
Date
2017-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Introduction: The incidence of myocardial infarction is rising in Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to reduce
mortality, timely reperfusion by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or thrombolysis followed by
PCI is required. South Africa has historically been characterised by inequities in healthcare access based
on geographic and socioeconomic status. We aimed to determine the coverage of PCI-facilities in South
Africa and relate this to access based on population and socio-economic status.
Methods: This cross-sectional study obtained data from literature, directories, organisational databases
and correspondence with Departments of Health and hospital groups. Data was analysed descriptively
while Spearman’s Rho sought correlations between PCI-facility resources, population, poverty and medical
insurance status.
Results: South Africa has 62 PCI-facilities. Gauteng has the most PCI-facilities (n = 28) while the Northern
Cape has none. Most PCI-facilities (n = 48; 77%) are owned by the private sector. A disparity exists
between the number of private and state-owned PCI-facilities when compared to the poverty (r = 0.01;
p = 0.17) and insurance status of individuals (r = 0.4; p = 0.27).
Conclusion: For many South Africans, access to PCI-facilities and primary PCI is still impossible given their
socio-economic status or geographical locale. Research is needed to determine the specific PCI-facility
needs based on geographic and epidemiological aspects, and to develop a contextualised solution for
South Africans suffering a myocardial infarction.
Description
CITATION: Stassen, W. et al. 2017. Percutaneous coronary intervention still not accessible for many South Africans. African Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7(3):105–107. doi:10.1016/j.afjem.2017.01.001.
The original publication is available at https://www.afjem.org
The original publication is available at https://www.afjem.org
Keywords
Myocardial infarction, Sub-Saharan Africa, Healthcare access, South African health care, Percutaneous coronary intervention
Citation
Stassen, W. et al. 2017. Percutaneous coronary intervention still not accessible for many South Africans. African Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7(3):105–107. doi:10.1016/j.afjem.2017.01.001.