Abstract 11331: Economic and Social Challenges Faced by People Living with Rheumatic Heart Disease in a Resource Limited Setting

Abstract

Introduction: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) has nearly been eradicated in wealthy nations but remains a significant public health concern in low-resource countries like Uganda. Many people living with RHD (PLWRHD) is these settings have not been diagnosed and many who are diagnosed have late-stage disease. Objectives: To explore the social and economic challenges faced by PLWRHD in a resource limited setting. Methods: This was a qualitative study. We conducted in depth interviews on a sample of 36 RHD patients randomly selected from a computer-generated list from RHD registries in the Northern, Central, and South-western regions. The selected participants were interviewed by trained qualitative research staff. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed by thematic content analysis and useful codes were generated by both inductive and deductive approaches. Generated codes were collapsed into themes. Coding was done by 3 independent researchers who compared their results and agreed on one codebook which was updated iteratively. Results: Of the 36 interviewed participants, 18 had congestive heart and another 18 had no congestive heart failure, a complication of RHD. Economic challenges faced by PLWRHD included financial burdens to family, debts incurred to meet treatment costs, selling off assets and loss of jobs. Social challenges entailed poor support at schools for RHD patients, school drop outs, family instability, poor social relations and poor community perception of RHD. Conclusion: Understanding challenges faced will enable designing of interventions that improve the quality of life of PLWRHD and significantly influence future policies on RHD management.