Self-reported disability in rural Malawi: prevalence, incidence, and relationship to chronic conditions

Prynn, J. E., Dube, A., Mwaiyeghele, E., Mwiba, O., Geis, S., Koole, O., Nyirenda, M., Kuper, H. and Crampin, A. C. (2021) Self-reported disability in rural Malawi: prevalence, incidence, and relationship to chronic conditions. Wellcome Open Research, 4, 90. (doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15196.5) (PMID:33336079) (PMCID:PMC7722531)

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Abstract

Background: Disability is a complex concept involving physical impairment, activity limitation, and participation restriction. The Washington Group developed a set of questions on six functional domains (seeing, hearing, walking, remembering, self-care, and communicating) to allow collection of comparable data on disability. We aimed to improve understanding of prevalence and correlates of disability in the low-income setting of Malawi. Methods: This study is nested in the Karonga Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in Malawi; the Washington Group questions were added to the annual survey in 2014. We used cross-sectional data from the 2014 survey to estimate the current prevalence of disability, simulate disability prevalence over the previous 12 years, and examine associations of disability with certain chronic diseases. We then reviewed the consistency of responses to the questions over time using data from the 2015 survey. Results: Of 10,863 participants, 9.6% (95% CI 9.0-10.1%) reported disability in at least one domain. Prevalence was higher among women and increased with age. Since 2004, we estimate the number of people experiencing disability has increased 1.5 times. Obesity and diabetes were associated with disability, but hypertension and HIV were not. Participants reporting “no difficulty” or “can’t do at all” for any domain were likely to report the same status one year later, whereas there was considerable movement between people describing “some difficulty” and “a lot of difficulty”. Conclusions: Disability prevalence is high and likely to increase over time. Further research into the needs of this population is crucial to ensure inclusive policies are created and sustainable development goals are met.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:Version 5; peer review: 2 approved. This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust [098610], which supported both the HDSS census rounds and NCD survey.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Crampin, Professor Mia
Creator Roles:
Crampin, A. C.Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Authors: Prynn, J. E., Dube, A., Mwaiyeghele, E., Mwiba, O., Geis, S., Koole, O., Nyirenda, M., Kuper, H., and Crampin, A. C.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Public Health
Journal Name:Wellcome Open Research
Publisher:F1000Research
ISSN:2398-502X
ISSN (Online):2398-502X
Published Online:07 June 2019
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 Prynn JE et al.
First Published:First published in Wellcome Open Research 4:90
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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