Katherine Murphy

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Chronic Disease Initiative for Africa, University of Cape Town

Introduction South Africa has a high prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM; 15%) and many of these women (48%) progress to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) within 5 years post partum. A significant proportion (47%) of the women are not aware of their diabetes status after the index pregnancy, which may be in part to low postnatal diabetes...

Background In South Africa, the prevalence of gestational diabetes (GDM) is growing, concomitant with the dramatically increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity among women. There is an urgent need to develop tailored interventions to support women with GDM to mitigate pregnancy risks and to prevent progression to type 2 diabetes post-partum. The...

Background: Despite high gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) prevalence in South Africa (9.1% in 2018), its screening and management are not well integrated into routine primary health care and poorly linked to post-GDM prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in South Africa's fragmented health system. This study explored women's, health car...

Introduction: Many adults diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) also have other known or unknown comorbid conditions. The rising prevalence of GDM and T2DM within a broader context of multimorbidity can best be addressed through an integrated management response, instead of stand-alone programs targ...

Background Implementation of the programmes for the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) into antenatal care over the last three decades could inform implementation of interventions for other health challenges such as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This study assessed PMTCT outcomes, and how...

Background The diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may affect women’s mental wellbeing, functioning and quality of life, with potentially negative effects on treatment adherence. Identifying and addressing the psychological and emotional needs of women with GDM, could have benefits for sustainable long-term behavioural change following...

Background: Integrating Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes into routine health services under complex socio-political and health system conditions is a priority and a challenge. The successful rollout of PMTCT in sub-Saharan Africa has decreased Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), reduced child mortality and improved mat...

Background Integrating vertical programmes into routine health services under complex socio-political and health system conditions is a priority and a challenge. The successful rollout of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission programmes (PMTCT) in sub-Saharan Africa has decreased Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), reduced child mortality and...

Background Lifestyle change can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes among women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). While understanding women’s lived experiences and views around GDM is critical to the development of behaviour change interventions to reduce this risk, few studies have addressed this issue in low- and middle- i...

Background: One of the most important primary health challenges currently affecting older people in South Africa (SA) is the increasing prevalence of non-communicable disease (NCD). Research is needed to investigate the current state of care and self-management support available to older diabetic patients in SA and the potential for interventions p...

Introduction Multi-morbidity, defined as the co-existence of more than one chronic condition in one person, has been increasing due to comorbid non-communicable and infectious chronic diseases (CNCICDs). Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) incidences within the CNCICDs conditions are increasing and overwhelming already wea...

Brief behaviour change counselling (BBCC) that is integrated into routine health care has been shown to be effective in helping patients modify risk behaviours for non-communicable disease (NCD), improve self-management of chronic conditions, as well as produce clinically meaningful improvements in biological outcomes. Capacitating healthcare provi...

As part of a comprehensive programme to prevent non- communicable disease in South Africa, there is a need to develop public education campaigns on healthy eating. Urban populations of lower socioeconomic status are a priority target population. This study involved formative research to guide the development of a nutrition resource appropriate to t...

To evaluate the effect on clinical practice of training primary care providers (PCPs) in an approach to brief behaviour change counselling (BBCC), integrating the 5As (ask, alert, assess, assist, arrange) with a guiding style derived from motivational interviewing in the South African context. BBCC was focused on the four risky behaviours (unhealth...

Background: Diabetes and hypertension constitute a significant and growing burden of disease in South Africa. Presently, few patients are achieving adequate levels of control. In an effort to improve outcomes, the Department of Health is proposing a shift to a patient-centred model of chronic care, which empowers patients to play an active role in...

Introduction: Despite the negative consequences of alcohol and other drug use during pregnancy, few interventions for pregnant women are implemented, and little is known about their feasibility and acceptability in primary health care settings in South Africa. As part of the formative phase of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatme...

There is little evidence of the feasibility and acceptability of integrating screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment services that address depression and alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) use into antenatal care in South Africa. Data were extracted from program records on the number of eligible women screened and number meeting...

Non-communicable diseases and associated risk factors (smoking, alcohol abuse, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet) are a major contributor to primary care morbidity and the burden of disease. The need for healthcare-provider training in evidence-based lifestyle interventions has been acknowledged by the National Department of Health. However, l...

We are facing a global epidemic of non-communicable disease (NCDs), which has been linked with four risky lifestyle behaviours. It is recommended that primary care providers (PCPs) provide individual brief behaviour change counselling (BBCC) as part of everyday primarycare, however currently training is required to build capacity. Local training pr...

Background South Africa currently faces an increasing burden of cardiovascular disease. Although referred to clinics after community screening initiatives, few individuals who are identified to be at high risk for developing cardiovascular disease attend. Low health literacy and risk perception have been identified as possible causes. We investigat...

Background and objectives Many clinical management guidelines for chronic diseases have been published, but they have not been put into practice by busy clinicians at primary care levels. This study evaluates the implementation of national guidelines incorporated within a structured diabetes and hypertension clinical record (SR) in Cape Town in a r...

to investigate how midwives are currently communicating with women about smoking during pregnancy with a view to involving them in a smoking cessation intervention in antenatal clinics. a qualitative study using individual, in-depth interviews for data collection. 24 nurses providing antenatal care to pregnant smokers attending public sector clinic...

Cognitive behavioral interventions consisting of brief counseling and the provision of self-help material designed for pregnancy have been documented as effective smoking cessation interventions for pregnant women. However, there is a need to understand how such interventions are perceived by the targeted group. To understand the cognitive, emotion...

To evaluate the effect of a smoking cessation intervention, based on best practice guidelines on the quit rates of disadvantaged, pregnant women in Cape Town, South Africa. Quasi-experimental using a natural history cohort as a control group, consisting of women attending antenatal care in 2006 and an intervention cohort, attending the same clinics...

The objective was to determine the practices and beliefs of disadvantaged women with high smoking rates, their perceptions of antenatal services and their preference for smoking cessation intervention materials. The readiness of smokers to quit, in terms of stages of change, was also determined. The study took place in public sector antenatal clini...

to explore barriers to and possibilities for interactive communication between midwives and pregnant women regarding smoking behaviour during pregnancy. the study was based on a qualitative research design aiming at a Grounded Theory analysis of interviews with pregnant women. public sector antenatal clinics in Cape Town, South Africa predominantly...

To investigate the current smoking cessation practices and attitudes of doctors working in the public antenatal services, as well as their perceived barriers to addressing the issue in the context of routine care. The study was qualitative, consisting of 14 semistructured, one-to-one interviews with doctors purposefully sampled from 5 public sector...