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Physical disability and psychosocial impact due to chronic filarial lymphoedema in Sri Lanka

BACKGROUND: Information on the physical and psychosocial disability of lymphatic filariasis in Sri Lanka is scarce. Therefore this study was carried out to describe the physical disability and psychosocial impact associated with chronic lymphoedema in patients attending filariasis clinics in the Col...

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Autores principales: Wijesinghe, RS, Wickremasinghe, AR, Ekanayake, Sriyani, Perera, MSA
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2007
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1851956/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17391538
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2883-6-4
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author Wijesinghe, RS
Wickremasinghe, AR
Ekanayake, Sriyani
Perera, MSA
author_facet Wijesinghe, RS
Wickremasinghe, AR
Ekanayake, Sriyani
Perera, MSA
author_sort Wijesinghe, RS
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Information on the physical and psychosocial disability of lymphatic filariasis in Sri Lanka is scarce. Therefore this study was carried out to describe the physical disability and psychosocial impact associated with chronic lymphoedema in patients attending filariasis clinics in the Colombo district, Sri Lanka. METHODS: Four hundred and thirteen patients with lymphoedema of limbs attending filariasis clinics in Werahera and Dehiwala in the Colombo district were enrolled in the study after obtaining informed written consent. Data were collected using a pre-tested, interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: Majority (95%) of patients had lower limbs affected and there was a significant association with difficulty in walking (p = 0.023). The swollen limb affected the work of 87 (52 %) of employed patients and 26 persons reported loss of job. Approximately 25 % and 6 % reported having problems interacting with the community and family, respectively and 8.7 % felt that they were rejected by society. The swollen limb was perceived as a major problem by 36.8 % of patients. Of the married persons, 5.7 % and 6.2 % reported sexual and marital problems respectively, due to their swollen limb/s. Of those who had marital problems, 77.3% reported sexual problems as well (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Lymphoedema significantly affects physical, psychological and social functioning in affected individuals. Morbidity control, in addition to control of physical disability, should target the psychosocial consequences.
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spelling pubmed-18519562007-04-13 Physical disability and psychosocial impact due to chronic filarial lymphoedema in Sri Lanka Wijesinghe, RS Wickremasinghe, AR Ekanayake, Sriyani Perera, MSA Filaria J Research BACKGROUND: Information on the physical and psychosocial disability of lymphatic filariasis in Sri Lanka is scarce. Therefore this study was carried out to describe the physical disability and psychosocial impact associated with chronic lymphoedema in patients attending filariasis clinics in the Colombo district, Sri Lanka. METHODS: Four hundred and thirteen patients with lymphoedema of limbs attending filariasis clinics in Werahera and Dehiwala in the Colombo district were enrolled in the study after obtaining informed written consent. Data were collected using a pre-tested, interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: Majority (95%) of patients had lower limbs affected and there was a significant association with difficulty in walking (p = 0.023). The swollen limb affected the work of 87 (52 %) of employed patients and 26 persons reported loss of job. Approximately 25 % and 6 % reported having problems interacting with the community and family, respectively and 8.7 % felt that they were rejected by society. The swollen limb was perceived as a major problem by 36.8 % of patients. Of the married persons, 5.7 % and 6.2 % reported sexual and marital problems respectively, due to their swollen limb/s. Of those who had marital problems, 77.3% reported sexual problems as well (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Lymphoedema significantly affects physical, psychological and social functioning in affected individuals. Morbidity control, in addition to control of physical disability, should target the psychosocial consequences. BioMed Central 2007-03-29 /pmc/articles/PMC1851956/ /pubmed/17391538 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2883-6-4 Text en Copyright © 2007 Wijesinghe et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research
Wijesinghe, RS
Wickremasinghe, AR
Ekanayake, Sriyani
Perera, MSA
Physical disability and psychosocial impact due to chronic filarial lymphoedema in Sri Lanka
title Physical disability and psychosocial impact due to chronic filarial lymphoedema in Sri Lanka
title_full Physical disability and psychosocial impact due to chronic filarial lymphoedema in Sri Lanka
title_fullStr Physical disability and psychosocial impact due to chronic filarial lymphoedema in Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed Physical disability and psychosocial impact due to chronic filarial lymphoedema in Sri Lanka
title_short Physical disability and psychosocial impact due to chronic filarial lymphoedema in Sri Lanka
title_sort physical disability and psychosocial impact due to chronic filarial lymphoedema in sri lanka
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1851956/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17391538
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2883-6-4
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