Utilising community volunteers can increase the detection and referral of Buruli ulcer cases in endemic communities in Southeast, Nigeria
Abstract Background Buruli ulcer (BU) is a debilitating neglected tropical disease which causes disability and mostly affects inhabitants in impoverished settings where access to medical care is challenging. This study aims to determine the effect of training community members as volunteers for or i...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3e75c66b26214eef91d132e22cf7087a 2023-05-15T15:17:30+02:00 Utilising community volunteers can increase the detection and referral of Buruli ulcer cases in endemic communities in Southeast, Nigeria Chihurumnanya Alo Ijeoma Nkem Okedo-Alex Ifeyinwa Chizoba Akamike Adaoha Pearl Agu Ifeyinwa Maureen Okeke Chidinma Ihuoma Amuzie Nneamaka C. Alo 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-022-00181-7 https://doaj.org/article/3e75c66b26214eef91d132e22cf7087a EN eng BMC https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-022-00181-7 https://doaj.org/toc/2055-0936 doi:10.1186/s40794-022-00181-7 2055-0936 https://doaj.org/article/3e75c66b26214eef91d132e22cf7087a Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2022) Buruli ulcer Community volunteers Case detection Hospital referral Neglected tropical disease Nigeria Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-022-00181-7 2022-12-30T19:39:34Z Abstract Background Buruli ulcer (BU) is a debilitating neglected tropical disease which causes disability and mostly affects inhabitants in impoverished settings where access to medical care is challenging. This study aims to determine the effect of training community members as volunteers for or in the detection and referral of people who have Buruli ulcer to the hospital. Methods The following study is a before and after study in the BU-endemic Local Government Areas (LGA) of Ebonyi State. A cluster random sampling technique was used to select 90 volunteers from three LGAs (30 from each LGA). In each LGA, the volunteers underwent a one-day training and six months field work to identify all those who have any form of ulcer on any part of their bodies. A short questionnaire was used to capture socio-demographic characteristics of the patient, site of the ulcer, duration of the ulcer, initial appearance of the ulcer, referral to hospital, result of laboratory investigation, and treatment received. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Microsoft Windows version 20 software. The Z test statistic was used to compare the number of referred BU patients before and after the intervention by LGA. The Chi square test was used to examine the association between the dependent and independent variables. Results The mean age of volunteers was 39 ± 9.5 while mean age of the patients was 42.3 ± 17.1. Most of the ulcers were on the legs (79.4%) and lasted 1–5 years (65.6%). There was a significant increase in the proportion of BU suspects identified by the community volunteers in all 3 LGAs (Afikpo north (p = < 0.001), Abakaliki (p = 0.02), Ikwo (p = 0.001). The duration of the ulcer was associated with the detection and referral of the patients with higher levels of detection and referral among those whose ulcer had lasted 1–5 years in two of the LGAs (P < 0.001). Conclusion We recommend that program managers and stakeholders integrate and scale up the services of trained ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines 8 1 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Buruli ulcer Community volunteers Case detection Hospital referral Neglected tropical disease Nigeria Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
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Buruli ulcer Community volunteers Case detection Hospital referral Neglected tropical disease Nigeria Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Chihurumnanya Alo Ijeoma Nkem Okedo-Alex Ifeyinwa Chizoba Akamike Adaoha Pearl Agu Ifeyinwa Maureen Okeke Chidinma Ihuoma Amuzie Nneamaka C. Alo Utilising community volunteers can increase the detection and referral of Buruli ulcer cases in endemic communities in Southeast, Nigeria |
topic_facet |
Buruli ulcer Community volunteers Case detection Hospital referral Neglected tropical disease Nigeria Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
description |
Abstract Background Buruli ulcer (BU) is a debilitating neglected tropical disease which causes disability and mostly affects inhabitants in impoverished settings where access to medical care is challenging. This study aims to determine the effect of training community members as volunteers for or in the detection and referral of people who have Buruli ulcer to the hospital. Methods The following study is a before and after study in the BU-endemic Local Government Areas (LGA) of Ebonyi State. A cluster random sampling technique was used to select 90 volunteers from three LGAs (30 from each LGA). In each LGA, the volunteers underwent a one-day training and six months field work to identify all those who have any form of ulcer on any part of their bodies. A short questionnaire was used to capture socio-demographic characteristics of the patient, site of the ulcer, duration of the ulcer, initial appearance of the ulcer, referral to hospital, result of laboratory investigation, and treatment received. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Microsoft Windows version 20 software. The Z test statistic was used to compare the number of referred BU patients before and after the intervention by LGA. The Chi square test was used to examine the association between the dependent and independent variables. Results The mean age of volunteers was 39 ± 9.5 while mean age of the patients was 42.3 ± 17.1. Most of the ulcers were on the legs (79.4%) and lasted 1–5 years (65.6%). There was a significant increase in the proportion of BU suspects identified by the community volunteers in all 3 LGAs (Afikpo north (p = < 0.001), Abakaliki (p = 0.02), Ikwo (p = 0.001). The duration of the ulcer was associated with the detection and referral of the patients with higher levels of detection and referral among those whose ulcer had lasted 1–5 years in two of the LGAs (P < 0.001). Conclusion We recommend that program managers and stakeholders integrate and scale up the services of trained ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chihurumnanya Alo Ijeoma Nkem Okedo-Alex Ifeyinwa Chizoba Akamike Adaoha Pearl Agu Ifeyinwa Maureen Okeke Chidinma Ihuoma Amuzie Nneamaka C. Alo |
author_facet |
Chihurumnanya Alo Ijeoma Nkem Okedo-Alex Ifeyinwa Chizoba Akamike Adaoha Pearl Agu Ifeyinwa Maureen Okeke Chidinma Ihuoma Amuzie Nneamaka C. Alo |
author_sort |
Chihurumnanya Alo |
title |
Utilising community volunteers can increase the detection and referral of Buruli ulcer cases in endemic communities in Southeast, Nigeria |
title_short |
Utilising community volunteers can increase the detection and referral of Buruli ulcer cases in endemic communities in Southeast, Nigeria |
title_full |
Utilising community volunteers can increase the detection and referral of Buruli ulcer cases in endemic communities in Southeast, Nigeria |
title_fullStr |
Utilising community volunteers can increase the detection and referral of Buruli ulcer cases in endemic communities in Southeast, Nigeria |
title_full_unstemmed |
Utilising community volunteers can increase the detection and referral of Buruli ulcer cases in endemic communities in Southeast, Nigeria |
title_sort |
utilising community volunteers can increase the detection and referral of buruli ulcer cases in endemic communities in southeast, nigeria |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-022-00181-7 https://doaj.org/article/3e75c66b26214eef91d132e22cf7087a |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-022-00181-7 https://doaj.org/toc/2055-0936 doi:10.1186/s40794-022-00181-7 2055-0936 https://doaj.org/article/3e75c66b26214eef91d132e22cf7087a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-022-00181-7 |
container_title |
Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766347751326482432 |