Utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the Western Province, Sri Lanka.
<h4>Background</h4>The leprosy services utilization by the patients at the clinic and field level should be high to achieve the target of eliminating leprosy as a public health problem in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, assessing patient and health system delay of a diagnosis and patient knowled...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020-12-01
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| Series: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008973 |
| _version_ | 1818729863009271808 |
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| author | Nadeeja Roshini Liyanage Mahendra Arnold Supun Wijesinghe |
| author_facet | Nadeeja Roshini Liyanage Mahendra Arnold Supun Wijesinghe |
| author_sort | Nadeeja Roshini Liyanage |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4>The leprosy services utilization by the patients at the clinic and field level should be high to achieve the target of eliminating leprosy as a public health problem in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, assessing patient and health system delay of a diagnosis and patient knowledge on disease are of equal importance to reveal the accurate picture.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the utilization of government healthcare services by 672 adult leprosy patients in Western Province (WP). Paucibacillary patients diagnosed at least six months and above, and Multibacillary patients diagnosed at least 12 months and above were selected by consecutive sampling method. An interviewer-administered questionnaire (IAQ) was used for data collection. Clinic utilization by leprosy patients was 87.8%. The mean patient-related delay (time taken from the onset of symptoms to the encounter of a doctor/health facility for the first time) was 16.8 months and health care system delay (time taken from the date of clinic registration to start of treatment) was 21.2 days. The overall delay was 17.5 months. Services provided by the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) office for families affected with leprosy was known by 53.8% (n = 298) of patients. Majority of family contacts were examined at the hospitals (n = 299, 44%), 30.8% (n = 207) by the Public Health Inspectors (PHI) and 7% (n = 46) at the MOH offices. PHIs had visited 56.7% (n = 401) of the patient's houses and 54% (n = 363) had received health education by PHI. Mean knowledge score was 50.7 (SD = 17.9). More than half (57.9%, n = 389) of the study sample had a good or very good knowledge level.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Utilization of clinic services was satisfactory. However, a considerable patient-related delay was found. Half of the patients were aware of available field services and a majority of contact screening was conducted at hospitals. Patient knowledge on leprosy was satisfactory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:52:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7039331390a1467cba0d4d0da648473e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-2727 1935-2735 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:52:38Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-7039331390a1467cba0d4d0da648473e2022-12-21T21:29:37ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352020-12-011412e000897310.1371/journal.pntd.0008973Utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the Western Province, Sri Lanka.Nadeeja Roshini LiyanageMahendra ArnoldSupun Wijesinghe<h4>Background</h4>The leprosy services utilization by the patients at the clinic and field level should be high to achieve the target of eliminating leprosy as a public health problem in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, assessing patient and health system delay of a diagnosis and patient knowledge on disease are of equal importance to reveal the accurate picture.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the utilization of government healthcare services by 672 adult leprosy patients in Western Province (WP). Paucibacillary patients diagnosed at least six months and above, and Multibacillary patients diagnosed at least 12 months and above were selected by consecutive sampling method. An interviewer-administered questionnaire (IAQ) was used for data collection. Clinic utilization by leprosy patients was 87.8%. The mean patient-related delay (time taken from the onset of symptoms to the encounter of a doctor/health facility for the first time) was 16.8 months and health care system delay (time taken from the date of clinic registration to start of treatment) was 21.2 days. The overall delay was 17.5 months. Services provided by the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) office for families affected with leprosy was known by 53.8% (n = 298) of patients. Majority of family contacts were examined at the hospitals (n = 299, 44%), 30.8% (n = 207) by the Public Health Inspectors (PHI) and 7% (n = 46) at the MOH offices. PHIs had visited 56.7% (n = 401) of the patient's houses and 54% (n = 363) had received health education by PHI. Mean knowledge score was 50.7 (SD = 17.9). More than half (57.9%, n = 389) of the study sample had a good or very good knowledge level.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Utilization of clinic services was satisfactory. However, a considerable patient-related delay was found. Half of the patients were aware of available field services and a majority of contact screening was conducted at hospitals. Patient knowledge on leprosy was satisfactory.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008973 |
| spellingShingle | Nadeeja Roshini Liyanage Mahendra Arnold Supun Wijesinghe Utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| title | Utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. |
| title_full | Utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. |
| title_fullStr | Utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. |
| title_short | Utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. |
| title_sort | utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the western province sri lanka |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008973 |
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