Learning experiences from orthopedic disability camp in a tribal area of Central India: A long-term retrospective study

Abstract

Introduction: Developing countries account for 70% of the world's population. In developing countries, medical and surgical health camps not only improve access to health care but also reduce pressure on hospitals and shift the balance of care from institutional-based to community-based services, thus reduce health service costs, but this health camp system yet not become popular because of its own disadvantage. Objective: The aim of this study was to find out the logistics of organizing such a mammoth camp along with long-term functional outcome of operative procedures done on orthopedically handicapped persons during camp. Materials and Methods: This retrograde observational study was conducted from June 2018 to December 2018 on a surgical disability camp (Rahat Camp) at Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh. This camp was organized in March 2010 over 8 days by the state government. During this follow-up study, all the patents were identified by arranging follow-up camp and personal home visits. All the patients and their family member were asked about their camp experience and it was assessed on subjective scale of satisfaction (0–10) and further classify as good (10, 9, and 8), fair (7, 6, and 5), poor (4, 3, and 2), and worse (1, 0) on the basis of score. Results: In this camp, 114 patients out of 5558 orthopedically handicapped patients (2%) were operated. After assessing all the records, conducting twice follow-up camp (September 25, and October 25, 2018), and home visits to camp patients, only 41 patients were traceable. On assessing camp experience among patients, 20% responded good, 45% responded fair, 25% responded poor, and 5% responded worse experience on the satisfaction scale. Conclusion: Surgical camps for orthopedic disabled require long-term follow-up and protocol-based rehabilitation by rehabilitation team for better outcomes.