Psychiatric morbidities and Quality of Life Among Surgically Treated Noma Survivors. Preliminary observations in Nigerian cohorts.

Abstract

Introduction: Facial disfigurement, a sequelae of Noma, has the potential to impact the mental and social well-being of survivors, predisposing them to psychiatric morbidities and low health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of the study is to determine the psychiatric morbidities and QoL among Noma patients in Nigeria.

Material and methods: A total of 41 participants were recruited and sociodemographic data were collected. Anxiety and depression, were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), while QoL was evaluated using World Health Organization QoL - BREF. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25 (IBM SPSS Statistics for iOS, Armonk, NY: IBM Corp). Descriptive statistics was employed alongside inferential analysis using the chi-square test with a significance threshold of p < 0.05.

Results: The mean age of participants was 32.5 years (SD ± 12.0). The largest proportion of participants (31.7%) fell within the 18-24 years age category. Islamic education was the main form of education (65.9%), and the majority were farmers (61.0%). The prevalence rates of depression, low quality of life, and anxiety were 73.2%, 48.8%, and 73.2%, respectively. A statistically significant association was found between anxiety and depression (p-value < 0.001). Although anxiety and depression were more prevalent among respondents with a low QoL, this was not statistically significant (p-value = 0.268).

Conclusion: The prevalence of psychiatric morbidities (anxiety and depression) is high in Noma survivors, and their QoL is significantly low. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment of mental disorders among Noma survivors is paramount.