Approaches and outcomes of community health worker’s interventions for hypertension management and control in low-income and middle-income countries: systematic review

Authors: Grace Wambura Mbuthia, Karani Magutah, Jennifer Pellowski

This review sought to critically assess the scope, content, and outcomes of CHW interventions designed to reduce blood pressure (BP) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A search of databases (PUBMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, OpenGrey, Cochrane Central Trials Register and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) was conducted to identify studies in LMICs from 2000 to 2020. Results from this search uncovered that CHW interventions were mainly community-based and focused on behavior change for promoting BP control among hypertensive patients as well as healthy individuals. In addition, the interventions were found to be effective in achieving BP reduction, linkage to care, treatment adherence, and reduced cardiovascular-disease risk. Although this current review is limited, the summarized outcomes demonstrated CHWs’ critical role in enhancing the control and management of hypertension. These findings emphasize the need for further research to more extensively explore the impact and cost-effectiveness of CHW-led interventions in the control and management of hypertension in LMICs.