Low prevalence of diagnosed asthma in Greenland – a call for increased focus on diagnosing

Nielsen, Maja Hykkelbjerg; Backe, Marie Balslev; Pedersen, Michael Lynge

doi:10.1080/22423982.2023.2195136

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 21 publications

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“…Similarly, a lower quality of care has been observed in diseases which are not monitored as closely in Greenland, e.g. hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and asthma [ 17 , 20 , 21 ] and these studies have led to increased focus on registration of diagnosis codes and treatment. It is, therefore, essential to know the prevalence and the quality of AF to ensure quality of care.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of care among patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in Greenland

Nielsen,

Hykkelbjerg Nielsen,

Andersen

et al. 2024

International Journal of Circumpolar Health

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This cross-sectional study sought to assess the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) diagnosis in Greenland among various age groups and examine the corresponding quality of care. We collected data from Greenland’s electronic medical records and evaluated the quality of care using six internationally recommended indicators, which are: percentage of AF patients with an assessment of smoking status within the previous year, an assessment of body mass index within the previous year, assessment of blood pressure within the previous year, measurement of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), treatment with an anticoagulant and percentage of patients with a measurement of serum-creatinine. We found the prevalence of AF among patients aged 20 years or older in Greenland to be 1.75% (95% CI 1.62–1.88). We found an increasing prevalence of AF with age and a greater proportion of men than women until the age of 74 years. Our study suggests that the associated quality of care could be higher as the requirement of only one of the six quality indicators was met. A lack of registration may partly explain this, and initiatives to improve the quality of care are recommended.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of care among patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in Greenland

Nielsen,

Hykkelbjerg Nielsen,

Andersen

et al. 2024

International Journal of Circumpolar Health

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Burden of selected chronic non-communicable diseases in a primary healthcare setting in Nuuk, Greenland, compared to a Danish suburb

Backe,

Kallestrup,

Rasmussen

et al. 2024

Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care

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Introduction Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) constitute a massive global burden and are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. In Greenland, the prevalence of NCDs has historically been low. However, during the past approximately 70 years, life circumstances have changed dramatically resulting in increased life expectancy. Today, the proportion of inhabitants in Greenland ≥65 years has nearly tripled since the 1980s, and the prevalence of obesity and diabetes has increased rapidly within the past decades. The aim of this study was to describe the burden of selected NCDs in a primary care setting in Nuuk and compare it to a modern westernized suburban general practice in Denmark. Methods The study was performed as a cross sectional register-based study using data extracted from the electronic medical records (EMR) based on diagnosis codes from inhabitants living in Nuuk, Greenland, and a suburb in Denmark. Estimates of prevalence were age-standardized to the WHO world standard population. Results In both Nuuk and the Danish suburb, the highest prevalence was observed for hypertension (13.2% for both populations), followed by asthma (4.4 and 9.5%, respectively) and diabetes (4.3 and 2.9%, respectively). The age-standardized prevalences of diabetes, COPD, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure, were significantly higher in Nuuk, while seven NCDs including asthma, ischemic heart disease, arthritis urica, psoriasis, hyperthyreosis, hypothyreosis and osteoporosis were significantly higher in the Danish suburb. Conclusion In contrast to the disease pattern observed in Greenland in the last century, the prevalence of diagnosed NCDs in Nuuk is no longer rare. Thus, the overall prevalence of NCDs in the population of Nuuk is now comparable to or even higher than in the suburb in Denmark. This calls for increased focus on all NCDs in the primary healthcare system in Greenland and adaption of the primary healthcare services to a changed disease spectrum.

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