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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Lymphatic filariasis patient identification in a large urban area of Tanzania
T2 - An application of a community-led mHealth system
AU - Mwingira, Upendo
AU - Chikawe, Maria
AU - Mandara, Wilfred Lazarus
AU - Mableson, Hayley E
AU - Uisso, Cecilia
AU - Mremi, Irene
AU - Malishee, Alpha
AU - Malecela, Mwele
AU - Mackenzie, Charles D
AU - Kelly-Hope, Louise A
AU - Stanton, Michelle C
PY - 2017/7/14
Y1 - 2017/7/14
N2 - BACKGROUND: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is best known for the disabling and disfiguring clinical conditions that infected patients can develop; providing care for these individuals is a major goal of the Global Programme to Eliminate LF. Methods of locating these patients, knowing their true number and thus providing care for them, remains a challenge for national medical systems, particularly when the endemic zone is a large urban area.METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPLE FINDINGS: A health community-led door-to-door survey approach using the SMS reporting tool MeasureSMS-Morbidity was used to rapidly collate and monitor data on LF patients in real-time (location, sex, age, clinical condition) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Each stage of the phased study carried out in the three urban districts of city consisted of a training period, a patient identification and reporting period, and a data verification period, with refinements to the system being made after each phase. A total of 6889 patients were reported (133.6 per 100,000 population), of which 4169 were reported to have hydrocoele (80.9 per 100,000), 2251 lymphoedema-elephantiasis (LE) (43.7 per 100,000) and 469 with both conditions (9.1 per 100,000). Kinondoni had the highest number of reported patients in absolute terms (2846, 138.9 per 100,000), followed by Temeke (2550, 157.3 per 100,000) and Ilala (1493, 100.5 per 100,000). The number of hydrocoele patients was almost twice that of LE in all three districts. Severe LE patients accounted for approximately a quarter (26.9%) of those reported, with the number of acute attacks increasing with reported LE severity (1.34 in mild cases, 1.78 in moderate cases, 2.52 in severe). Verification checks supported these findings.CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This system of identifying, recording and mapping patients affected by LF greatly assists in planning, locating and prioritising, as well as initiating, appropriate morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP) activities. The approach is a feasible framework that could be used in other large urban environments in the LF endemic areas.
AB - BACKGROUND: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is best known for the disabling and disfiguring clinical conditions that infected patients can develop; providing care for these individuals is a major goal of the Global Programme to Eliminate LF. Methods of locating these patients, knowing their true number and thus providing care for them, remains a challenge for national medical systems, particularly when the endemic zone is a large urban area.METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPLE FINDINGS: A health community-led door-to-door survey approach using the SMS reporting tool MeasureSMS-Morbidity was used to rapidly collate and monitor data on LF patients in real-time (location, sex, age, clinical condition) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Each stage of the phased study carried out in the three urban districts of city consisted of a training period, a patient identification and reporting period, and a data verification period, with refinements to the system being made after each phase. A total of 6889 patients were reported (133.6 per 100,000 population), of which 4169 were reported to have hydrocoele (80.9 per 100,000), 2251 lymphoedema-elephantiasis (LE) (43.7 per 100,000) and 469 with both conditions (9.1 per 100,000). Kinondoni had the highest number of reported patients in absolute terms (2846, 138.9 per 100,000), followed by Temeke (2550, 157.3 per 100,000) and Ilala (1493, 100.5 per 100,000). The number of hydrocoele patients was almost twice that of LE in all three districts. Severe LE patients accounted for approximately a quarter (26.9%) of those reported, with the number of acute attacks increasing with reported LE severity (1.34 in mild cases, 1.78 in moderate cases, 2.52 in severe). Verification checks supported these findings.CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This system of identifying, recording and mapping patients affected by LF greatly assists in planning, locating and prioritising, as well as initiating, appropriate morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP) activities. The approach is a feasible framework that could be used in other large urban environments in the LF endemic areas.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - Age Distribution
KW - Aged
KW - Child
KW - Child, Preschool
KW - Elephantiasis, Filarial
KW - Female
KW - Health Personnel
KW - Humans
KW - Infant
KW - Infant, Newborn
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Morbidity
KW - Severity of Illness Index
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW - Tanzania
KW - Telemedicine
KW - Testicular Hydrocele
KW - Text Messaging
KW - Urban Population
KW - Young Adult
KW - Journal Article
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005748
DO - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005748
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 28708825
VL - 11
JO - PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
JF - PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
SN - 1935-2727
IS - 7
M1 - e0005748
ER -