Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Nov 2012
Can the rural poor in India afford to treat non-communicable diseases.
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are on the increase in low-income countries, where healthcare costs are paid mostly out-of-pocket. We investigate the financial burden of NCD vs. communicable diseases (CD) among rural poor in India and assess whether they can afford to treat NCD. ⋯ Patients with NCD in rural poor settings in India pay considerably more than patients with CD. For NCD cases that are chronic, with recurring costs, this would be aggravated. The cost of NCD care consumes a big part of the per person share of household income, obliging patients with NCD to rely on informal intra-family cross-subsidisation. An alternative solution to finance NCD care for rural poor patients is needed.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Nov 2012
Prevalence of childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity in Benue State, Nigeria.
To evaluate demographic variation in the prevalence of overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) among 3240 children and adolescents (girls: n = 1714; boys: n = 1526) aged 9-16 years attending primary and secondary schools in Benue State of Nigeria. ⋯ In general, girls in urban areas had higher prevalence of OW and OB than girls in rural settings. Among the boys, similar but less marked trends were found, except that the rural boys tended to be more OW on average than their peers in urban areas. In view of its public health significance, it is important to periodically evaluate the prevalence of weight disorders in children and adolescents so that appropriate preventative strategies can be instituted.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Oct 2012
Multicenter StudyScreening of patients with tuberculosis for diabetes mellitus in China.
There is a high burden of both diabetes (DM) and tuberculosis (TB) in China, and this study aimed to assess feasibility and results of screening patients with TB for DM within the routine healthcare setting of six health facilities. ⋯ This pilot project shows that it is feasible to screen patients with TB for DM in the routine setting, resulting in a high yield of patients with known and newly diagnosed disease. Free blood tests for glucose measurement and integration of TB and DM services may improve the diagnosis and management of dually affected patients.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Oct 2012
Multicenter StudyScreening patients with diabetes mellitus for tuberculosis in China.
There is a high burden of both diabetes (DM) and tuberculosis (TB) in China, and as DM increases the risk of TB and adversely affects TB treatment outcomes, there is a need for bidirectional screening of the two diseases. How this is best performed is not well determined. In this pilot project in China, we aimed to assess the feasibility and results of screening DM patients for TB within the routine healthcare setting of five DM clinics. ⋯ This pilot project shows that it is feasible to carry out screening of DM patients for TB resulting in high detection rates of TB. This has major public health and patient-related implications.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Sep 2012
Treatment outcomes for human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: analysis of routine program data from the world's largest sleeping sickness control program.
To enable the human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) control program of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to generate data on treatment outcomes, an electronic database was developed. The database was piloted in two provinces, Bandundu and Kasai Oriental. In this study, we analysed routine data from the two provinces for the period 2006-2008. ⋯ High relapse rates in Kasai and poor compliance with post-treatment follow-up in both provinces are important problems that the HAT control program urgently needs to address. Moreover, in analogy to tuberculosis control programs, HAT control programs need to adopt a recording and reporting routine that includes reporting on treatment outcomes.