Open Access957. Evaluation of Chagas Disease Knowledge Among Providers Caring for At-risk People with HIV
Author(s) -
Jesica Hayon,
Jill E. Weatherhead,
Eva H. Clark
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
open forum infectious diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.546
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 2328-8957
DOI - 10.1093/ofid/ofab466.1152
Subject(s) - medicine , disease , family medicine , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , epidemiology , transmission (telecommunications) , health care , electrical engineering , engineering , economics , economic growth
Background Chagas disease (CD) is underdiagnosed in the United States due to limited healthcare provider awareness of the disease. Improving provider CD knowledge is important because >200,000 people living in the US are estimated to have CD, and 20-30% of those will develop related cardiac or gastrointestinal disease. People with HIV (PWH) and CD additionally are at risk for CD reactivation, which carries a >70% mortality rate. Methods The overall objective of this quality improvement project was to improve provider knowledge of CD prior to implementation of a CD screening initiative at a large HIV clinic in Houston, TX where >5,000 PWH are seen annually (~60% Latinx). We administered the survey to providers at this clinic before and after a 1-hour CD educational session, which included information about CD epidemiology, risk factors, transmission, screening, diagnostic strategies, and available treatments. Results Of 33 providers who took the pre-survey (16 faculty, 14 fellows, and 3 medical students), 27 (81.8%) completed all questions. Of 21 providers who took the post-survey (12 faculty, 6 fellows, and 3 medical students), 19 (90.5%) completed all questions. We identified the following CD knowledge gaps (i.e., questions initially answered incorrectly by >25% in the pre-educational session survey): CD transmission, regions of CD endemicity, CD risk factors, organ systems impacted by CD in PWH, and CD testing/follow-up procedures. In the post-educational session survey, we observed significant improvement in providers’ knowledge of CD epidemiology (correct selection of estimated number of people living with CD in the US improved from 26.7% to 90.5%, Fisher’s exact p< 0.0001), transmission (correct selection of “mother-to-child” answer improved from 73.3% to 100%, p=0.0150), and selection of correct CD testing answers improved from 51.9% to 85%, p=0.0286. Conclusion Improved CD awareness among healthcare providers and reliable systematic screening protocols are important in at-risk populations. Through simple administration of a 1-hour educational session, we identified and improved several CD knowledge gaps. We noted significant improvement in providers’ confidence in their CD knowledge, specifically in epidemiology, transmission, and diagnostic and screening testing. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures