{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T13:16:32Z","timestamp":1790774192759,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,1]],"date-time":"2019-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1548979200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Tackling Infections To Benefit Africa (TIBA)","award":["UoERef:CT-4987(d)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UoERef:CT-4987(d)"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries face a growing burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD), attributed to economic, nutritional, demographic, and epidemiological transitions. These factors increase the prevalence of CVD risk factors, and the CVD burden overlaps with a high prevalence of infectious diseases. This review aimed to understand CVD healthcare utilization determinants and levels in SSA. We conducted a systematic search of the literature on major databases for the period 2008\u20132018 using exhaustive combinations of CVD and utilization indicators as search terms. Eighteen studies from eight countries were included in this review. Most studies (88.8%) followed the quantitative methodology and largely focused on inpatient stroke care. Two-thirds of patients sought care within 24 h of suffering a stroke, and the length of stay (LOS) in hospital ranged between 6 and 81 days. Results showed a rising trend of CVD admissions within total hospital admissions. Coverage of physiotherapy services was limited and varied between countries. While few studies included rural populations, utilization was found to be negatively associated with rural residence and socioeconomic status. There is a need to extend healthcare provision in SSA to ensure access to the CVD continuum of care.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph16030419","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,1]],"date-time":"2019-02-01T03:08:05Z","timestamp":1548990485000},"page":"419","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":26,"title":["Cardiovascular Disease Healthcare Utilization in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2645-7263","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Herbert","family":"Chikafu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moses J.","family":"Chimbari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"961","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1230413","article-title":"Increases in adult life expectancy in rural South Africa: Valuing the scale-up of HIV treatment","volume":"339","author":"Bor","year":"2013","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"303","article-title":"Cardiovascular risk factors in middle aged Nigerians","volume":"74","author":"Kadiri","year":"1997","journal-title":"East Afr. 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