NEGLECTED SURGICAL CONDITIONS AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG URBAN RESIDENTS IN INDIA dr.priyalall93@gmail.com

PE067

NEGLECTED SURGICAL CONDITIONS AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG URBAN RESIDENTS IN INDIA

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India

Oral or Poster

Undiagnosed and untreated Surgical conditions contribute significantly to morbidity, mortality and DALYs. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of neglected surgical conditions in the community and assess the treatment-seeking behaviours of the study participants.

A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in three wards of Mehrauli area of South Delhi from January 2020 to March 2021, among 1224 study participants. Systematic random sampling was used to select the households. Severely ill and those not able to consent were excluded from the study. Neglect was defined as surgical conditions for which surgery had been advised by a Qualified Medical Practitioner, but the participant had not undergone the procedure for more than 2 months. A self-designed, pretested questionnaire along with SOSAS (Surgeons Overseas Assessment of Surgical Needs) questionnaire was used for data collection and data was analyzed in SPSS version 25.

The prevalence of any diagnosed surgical condition among the study population was 13.1% and the magnitude of conditions being neglected among the total study participants was 10.6%. Females were more likely to delay seeking treatment as compared to males (86.9% vs 72.4%) and the neglect was higher in conditions affecting abdomen (33.1%) and face, head and the neck (20.1%). The neglect was higher among those who didn’t avail any form of health insurance than those who did (93.8% vs 51.0%). The findings were found to be statistically significant (p<0.05).

The neglected surgical conditions and the associated factors need interventions through awareness and provision of timely surgical care.