Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Jan 21;21(1):174. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10170-8.
Human lymphatic filarial pathology is the leading cause of disability and poverty among people living with the infection. The second goal of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) is to manage the disease's morbidity to improve patients' quality of life. Consequently, the current study assessed the overall quality of life of lymphatic filariasis (LF) pathology patients in some selected endemic communities in rural Ghana.
In the present study, the Lymphatic Filariasis Quality of Life Questionnaire (LFSQQ) was used to evaluate the effect of lymphatic filariasis on the quality of life of people, with the disease in nine (9) communities in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region of Ghana where mass drug administration is being implemented for the past twenty years. Pearson's correlation, linear regression, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses were used to assess the associations between the LFSQQ instrument domains.
Of the 155 study participants recruited, 115 (74.19%) were females, and 40 (25.81%) males. A greater proportion of the study participants (40, 25.8%) were presented with stage two (2) lymphoedema, while only two patients had stage seven (7) lymphoedema. The average of the overall quality of life scores of study participants was 68.24. There was a negative Pearson correlation (r = - 0.504, p-value < 0.001) between the stage of lymphoedema (severity of the disease) and the quality of life of the LF patients. In addition, a clear pattern of positive correlation (r = 0.71, p-value < 0.001) was observed between the disease burden and pain/discomfort domains of the study participants. Whereas the highest domain-specific score (85.03) was observed in the domain of self-care, we noted that the environmental domain, which consists of the financial status, was the lowest (45.94) among the study participants.
Our findings support previous works on the reduced quality of life among lymphatic filariasis patients with pathology. In this study, our results reveal a depressing financial condition among people presenting with late stages of LF pathologies, which eventually reduces their well-being.
人类淋巴丝虫病病理是感染患者残疾和贫困的主要原因。全球消灭淋巴丝虫病规划（GPELF）的第二个目标是管理该疾病的发病率，以提高患者的生活质量。因此，本研究评估了加纳农村一些选定的流行地区淋巴丝虫病病理患者的整体生活质量。
在本研究中，使用淋巴丝虫病生活质量问卷（LFSQQ）评估疾病对加纳西部 Ahanta West 区 9 个社区 155 名参与者生活质量的影响，在过去 20 年中，这些社区一直在实施大规模药物治疗。采用 Pearson 相关分析、线性回归和单向方差分析（ANOVA）分析评估 LFSQQ 工具领域之间的关联。
在招募的 155 名研究参与者中，有 115 名（74.19%）为女性，40 名（25.81%）为男性。研究参与者中比例较大的（40，25.8%）为 2 期淋巴水肿，只有两名患者为 7 期淋巴水肿。研究参与者的总体生活质量平均得分为 68.24。淋巴水肿阶段（疾病严重程度）与 LF 患者生活质量之间存在负 Pearson 相关（r=-0.504，p 值<0.001）。此外，研究参与者的疾病负担与疼痛/不适域之间存在明显的正相关模式（r=0.71，p 值<0.001）。虽然自我护理域的特定域得分最高（85.03），但我们注意到参与者的环境域（包括财务状况）最低（45.94）。
我们的发现支持了先前关于病理淋巴丝虫病患者生活质量降低的研究。在这项研究中，我们的结果揭示了患有晚期 LF 病理患者令人沮丧的财务状况，这最终降低了他们的幸福感。
