Financial burden impact quality of life among lymphatic Filariasis patients

Abstract

Background: 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.

Method: 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.

Results: 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.

Conclusion: 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.

Keywords: Ghana; Lymphatic Filariasis; Quality of life.

Fig. 1

Bar Chart depicting the mean quality life scores of LF patients for each domain

Fig. 2

The Overall Quality Life Scores in the Communities

Fig. 3

The Distribution of Domains Scores in the Community. This graph shows the domains scores of DBD, PD, and ED in the community of study. The bar value represents the domain scores for DBD, PD, and ED for each of the study community. The scores range from 0 to 100 with a higher score indicating a better quality of life. *DBD: Disease Burden Disease, * PD: Psychological Domain, *ED: Environment Domain

Fig. 4

The Correlation result between the Disease Burden and Pain/Discomfort Domains. The graph shows a positive Pearson’s correlation (r = 0.71, p-value < 0.001) between the Pain/Discomfort domain and Disease burden domain

Fig. 5

The correlation result of the severity of disease and overall Quality of Life Scores. The graph depicts a negative linear regression between the overall quality of life score and LF stage (severity of disease) with a Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of − 0.504