School of Global Health & Bioethics, Euclid University, Banjul, Gambia.
BMC Res Notes. 2023 Aug 7;16(1):162. doi: 10.1186/s13104-023-06440-w.
Noma is a facially disfiguring disease that affects the oral cavity and midface structures. If left untreated, the disease is fatal. Noma causes severe cosmetic and functional defects in survivors, leading to psychiatric and social problems. However, there are limited data on psychosocial and functional sequelae associated with this disease. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate psychosocial and functional morbidity among facially disfigured untreated Noma cases. Study participants were volunteer patients diagnosed with noma and awaiting surgery at two noma treatment centers in Ethiopia. A questionnaire derived from the APA's DSM-5, the DAS59, and the Appearance Anxiety Inventory protocol was used to measure the psychosocial and functional morbidity of the cases between September 16 and October 10, 2022.
A total of 32 noma cases (19 women and 13 men) awaiting the next surgical campaigns were involved in the study. Study participants reported severe social (Likert score = 2.8) and psychological (Likert score = 3.0) morbidity. Functional limitation was moderate (Likert score = 2.9). This study has shown that psychosocial and functional morbidity in untreated noma cases in Ethiopia is substantial. Therefore, policymakers, clinicians, and researchers need to pay sufficient attention to providing adequate health care and preventing the occurrence of the disease in the long term.
坏疽性口炎是一种影响口腔和中面部结构的毁容性疾病。如果不治疗，这种疾病是致命的。坏疽性口炎会给幸存者造成严重的美容和功能缺陷，导致精神和社会问题。然而，与这种疾病相关的心理社会和功能后遗症的数据有限。本横断面研究旨在调查未治疗的坏疽性口炎病例的心理社会和功能发病率。研究参与者是在埃塞俄比亚的两个坏疽性口炎治疗中心被诊断患有坏疽性口炎并等待手术的志愿患者。使用源自 APA 的 DSM-5、DAS59 和外观焦虑量表协议的问卷来衡量病例的心理社会和功能发病率，研究时间为 2022 年 9 月 16 日至 10 月 10 日。
共有 32 名等待下一次手术的坏疽性口炎病例（19 名女性和 13 名男性）参与了这项研究。研究参与者报告了严重的社会（李克特评分=2.8）和心理（李克特评分=3.0）发病率。功能受限为中度（李克特评分=2.9）。本研究表明，埃塞俄比亚未治疗的坏疽性口炎病例的心理社会和功能发病率相当高。因此，政策制定者、临床医生和研究人员需要充分关注提供足够的医疗保健，并从长远角度预防该疾病的发生。
