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Context: Electronic health (e health) initiatives are being employed in various health programs for disease monitoring. Very few such studies have been conducted in India, so this study was planned. Aims: Assess feasibility and usefulness of e health interventions for health workers, ASHA (accredited social health activist) in screening and management of hypertension. Setting and Design: Prospective observational cohort study. ASHA’s were recruited in two selected villages of Rajasthan and trained to use this technology. Methods and Material: A web-based application was developed for use on portable device (tablet) to screen and diagnose hypertension, provide health education focused on diet, physical exercise and promote adherence to therapies by repeated sessions of one-to-one health education. Statistical analysis was done by Excel. Results: With the use of e health initiatives, among population above 18yrs, we found 19.1% hypertensives (464/2430) with 46.5% new cases of hypertension and 38.9 % (945/2430) prehypertensive. Mean age of hypertensives was 52.6 yrs. ± 15.2 and 36.8 yrs. ± 14.2 for prehypertensive and highly significant (p < 0.001). Mean systolic blood pressure level of hypertensives decreased from 147.14 Hg ±13.86 to 133.3 Hg ±13.07 and for prehypertensive from 123.18 mm Hg ± 4.5 to 117.55 mm Hg ± 6.9 after follow up, the difference in change was highly significant (P < 0.001). Also, could start 27.4% hypertensives on treatment, while 50.2% were already on treatment. Conclusion: Training ASHA worker in e health technology is feasible and can assist in screening and management of diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: QT dispersion, defined as the difference between maximum and minimum QT interval measured at 12 lead ECG, is the most simple and widely used index of ventricular dispersion. Increased ventricular dispersion predicts predisposition to cardiac arrhythmia and therefore affects the prognosis of patients after myocardial infarction. Methods: In this study we evaluated whether QT dispersion can predict the arrhythmogenic potential in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and whether it can behave as a risk stratification tool in such patients. Results: In all, 124 patients were included in the study. Mean QT dispersion at presentation was 112±5.4 ms. Those who were thrombolysed, or survived or did not develop significant ventricular arrhythmias had significantly lower QT dispersion than their comparative groups (P<0.001). Conclusion: In our study we found that measuring QT dispersion from presentation till hospitalisation can provide a method of risk stratification of AMI patients and can detect patients who are at increased risk of developing ventricular arrhythmias and increased cardiac mortality ?Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Electronic health (e health) initiatives are being employed in various health programs for disease monitoring. Very few such studies have been conducted in India, so this study was planned., Aims: Assess feasibility and usefulness of e health interventions for health workers, ASHA (accredited social health activist) in screening and management of hypertension., Setting and Design: Prospective observational cohort study. ASHA's were recruited in two selected villages of Rajasthan and trained to use this technology., Methods and Material: A web-based application was developed for use on portable device (tablet) to screen and diagnose hypertension, provide health education focused on diet, physical exercise and promote adherence to therapies by repeated sessions of one-to-one health education. Statistical analysis was done by Excel., Results: With the use of e health initiatives, among population above 18yrs, we found 19.1% hypertensives (464/2430) with 46.5% new cases of hypertension and 38.9 % (945/2430) prehypertensive. Mean age of hypertensives was 52.6 yrs. ± 15.2 and 36.8 yrs. ± 14.2 for prehypertensive and highly significant (p < 0.001). Mean systolic blood pressure level of hypertensives decreased from 147.14 Hg ±13.86 to 133.3 Hg ±13.07 and for prehypertensive from 123.18 mm Hg ± 4.5 to 117.55 mm Hg ± 6.9 after follow up, the difference in change was highly significant (P < 0.001). Also, could start 27.4% hypertensives on treatment, while 50.2% were already on treatment., Conclusion: Training ASHA worker in e health technology is feasible and can assist in screening and management of diseases., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.)