What the snake leaves in its wake: Functional limitations and disabilities among snakebite victims in Ghanaian communities.
Background The estimated five million snakebites per year are an important health problem that mainly affect rural poor populations. The global goal is to halve both mortality and morbidity from this neglected tropical disease by 2030. Data on snakebite morbidity are sparse and mainly obtained from...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6ae78593b97c416f863b5f2498e694e2 2023-05-15T15:15:52+02:00 What the snake leaves in its wake: Functional limitations and disabilities among snakebite victims in Ghanaian communities. Leslie Mawuli Aglanu John Humphrey Amuasi Bob A Schut Jonathan Steinhorst Alexis Beyuo Chrisantus Danaah Dari Melvin Katey Agbogbatey Emmanuel Steve Blankson Damien Punguyire David G Lalloo Jörg Blessmann Kabiru Mohammed Abass Robert A Harrison Ymkje Stienstra 2022-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010322 https://doaj.org/article/6ae78593b97c416f863b5f2498e694e2 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010322 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010322 https://doaj.org/article/6ae78593b97c416f863b5f2498e694e2 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 16, Iss 5, p e0010322 (2022) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010322 2022-12-30T22:22:03Z Background The estimated five million snakebites per year are an important health problem that mainly affect rural poor populations. The global goal is to halve both mortality and morbidity from this neglected tropical disease by 2030. Data on snakebite morbidity are sparse and mainly obtained from hospital records. Methods This community-based study was conducted among 379 rural residents with or without a history of snakebite in the Ashanti and Upper West regions of Ghana. All participants in the snakebite group were bitten at least six months before the day of survey. The World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) and the Buruli Ulcer Functional Limitation Score were used to obtain patient-reported measure of functioning and disability. Long-term consequences were evaluated based on the severity of the symptoms at the time of the snakebite. Findings The median (IQR) time since the snakebite was 8.0 (3.5-16.5) years. The relative risk of disability was 1.54 (95% CI, 1.17-2.03) in the snakebite group compared to the community controls. Among patients with clinical symptoms suggesting envenoming at the time of bite, 35% had mild/moderate disabilities compared to 20% in the control group. The disability domains mainly affected by snakebite envenoming were cognition level, mobility, life activities and participation in society. A combination of the severity of symptoms at the time of the bite, age, gender and region of residence most accurately predicted the odds of having functional limitations and disabilities. Conclusion The burden of snakebite in the community includes long-term disabilities of mild to moderate severity, which need to be considered when designing appropriate public health interventions. Estimating the total burden of snakebite is complicated by geographic differences in types of snakes and their clinical manifestations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 16 5 e0010322 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Leslie Mawuli Aglanu John Humphrey Amuasi Bob A Schut Jonathan Steinhorst Alexis Beyuo Chrisantus Danaah Dari Melvin Katey Agbogbatey Emmanuel Steve Blankson Damien Punguyire David G Lalloo Jörg Blessmann Kabiru Mohammed Abass Robert A Harrison Ymkje Stienstra What the snake leaves in its wake: Functional limitations and disabilities among snakebite victims in Ghanaian communities. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Background The estimated five million snakebites per year are an important health problem that mainly affect rural poor populations. The global goal is to halve both mortality and morbidity from this neglected tropical disease by 2030. Data on snakebite morbidity are sparse and mainly obtained from hospital records. Methods This community-based study was conducted among 379 rural residents with or without a history of snakebite in the Ashanti and Upper West regions of Ghana. All participants in the snakebite group were bitten at least six months before the day of survey. The World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) and the Buruli Ulcer Functional Limitation Score were used to obtain patient-reported measure of functioning and disability. Long-term consequences were evaluated based on the severity of the symptoms at the time of the snakebite. Findings The median (IQR) time since the snakebite was 8.0 (3.5-16.5) years. The relative risk of disability was 1.54 (95% CI, 1.17-2.03) in the snakebite group compared to the community controls. Among patients with clinical symptoms suggesting envenoming at the time of bite, 35% had mild/moderate disabilities compared to 20% in the control group. The disability domains mainly affected by snakebite envenoming were cognition level, mobility, life activities and participation in society. A combination of the severity of symptoms at the time of the bite, age, gender and region of residence most accurately predicted the odds of having functional limitations and disabilities. Conclusion The burden of snakebite in the community includes long-term disabilities of mild to moderate severity, which need to be considered when designing appropriate public health interventions. Estimating the total burden of snakebite is complicated by geographic differences in types of snakes and their clinical manifestations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Leslie Mawuli Aglanu John Humphrey Amuasi Bob A Schut Jonathan Steinhorst Alexis Beyuo Chrisantus Danaah Dari Melvin Katey Agbogbatey Emmanuel Steve Blankson Damien Punguyire David G Lalloo Jörg Blessmann Kabiru Mohammed Abass Robert A Harrison Ymkje Stienstra |
author_facet |
Leslie Mawuli Aglanu John Humphrey Amuasi Bob A Schut Jonathan Steinhorst Alexis Beyuo Chrisantus Danaah Dari Melvin Katey Agbogbatey Emmanuel Steve Blankson Damien Punguyire David G Lalloo Jörg Blessmann Kabiru Mohammed Abass Robert A Harrison Ymkje Stienstra |
author_sort |
Leslie Mawuli Aglanu |
title |
What the snake leaves in its wake: Functional limitations and disabilities among snakebite victims in Ghanaian communities. |
title_short |
What the snake leaves in its wake: Functional limitations and disabilities among snakebite victims in Ghanaian communities. |
title_full |
What the snake leaves in its wake: Functional limitations and disabilities among snakebite victims in Ghanaian communities. |
title_fullStr |
What the snake leaves in its wake: Functional limitations and disabilities among snakebite victims in Ghanaian communities. |
title_full_unstemmed |
What the snake leaves in its wake: Functional limitations and disabilities among snakebite victims in Ghanaian communities. |
title_sort |
what the snake leaves in its wake: functional limitations and disabilities among snakebite victims in ghanaian communities. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010322 https://doaj.org/article/6ae78593b97c416f863b5f2498e694e2 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 16, Iss 5, p e0010322 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010322 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010322 https://doaj.org/article/6ae78593b97c416f863b5f2498e694e2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010322 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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5 |
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e0010322 |
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