Prosthetics and Physiotherapy Center Data Analysis, Sanaa, 2015-2017

Abstract

Riham Mohammed Al-Dubaiee

Introduction: The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics and the World Health Organization (WHO) have estimated that people needing prostheses or orthotics and related services represent 0.5% of the population in developing countries; and 30 million people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America require an estimated 180 000 rehabilitation professionals. In Yemen, the need for prosthesis and physiotherapy is increasing especially current protracted conflict and war. An estimated 28500 people have been left disabled most as a result of a blast, mine, or gunshot after the war erupted. Furthermore, the burden of road traffic injuries in term of disability is high. The Prosthetics and physiotherapy center (PPC) is the only public center providing rehabilitation services in Sana’a. We analyzed PPC data to describe the pattern of attendees and most common causes for disability.
Methods: The Soft copy data in excel format for Prosthetics and physiotherapy Center (PPC) for the period from January 1st, 2015 to December 31st, 2017 was used. For each attendant the following variables: demographic data including age, gender, location and cause, site of disability, and services provided were collected by the system. After the data was cleaned, categorized and translated to English, it was imported to epi info program 7.2 to be analyzed.
Results: The number of attendees was higher in 2016 and 2017 compared to 2015: 37.3%%, 34.1 vs. 28.6. the median age was 28 years (range: 1-110), and males were more affected (61%). 84% of attendees were from Sana’a governorate. The first three causes for attendance were neurological (32.4%), musculoskeletal (25.4%) and injuries (13.8%). Regarding the neurological causes, the most common diagnoses were: disc prolapse (37.9%), ischemic stroke (21.3%) and Cerebral palsy (15.2%). The highest three causes of musculoskeletal causes were flat foot (29.4%), joint stiffness (23.6%) and, muscle spasm (14.9%). For injuries, War injuries (32.4%), undetermined injuries (18.3%) and car accidents (17.1%) were the most common causes. The most affected body pat was lower limbs (43.5%) and 81% of attendees were given Physiotherapy.
Conclusion: The PPC witness increase in number of attendees after the conflict arisen with a male predominance where war injuries constitute around a third of injuries that was the third cause for disability. The two other most common causes were neurological and musculoskeletal causes of disability. PPC Data entry system must be re-visited and re-categorized for diagnosis and body part affected. Quality of data should be improved e.g., through taking proper history and examination. Training of data clerks is a perquisite. PPC Governorate branches should be connected through a network with PPC at the central level to give clearer nationwide picture about the problems of disability and rehabilitation needs.

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