Abstract
BackgroundOften, non-clinical risk factors could affect the predisposition of an individual to diseases. Understanding these factors and their impacts helps in disease prevention and control. This study identified risk factors for malaria, yellow fever, typhoid, chickenpox, measles, hepatitis B, and urinary tract infection in a population in an African country.MethodsOur study was an observational, correlational, and quantitative one that explored relationships among risk variables and disease prevalence - without modifying or controlling the variables. Data for this study was obtained through random sampling of a population of patients and physicians in the eastern/southern, western, and northern parts of Nigeria in 2015–2016. A total of 2199 patient consultation forms were returned by 102 (out of 125) physicians, and considered useful for analysis. Demographic data of patients, physicians, and diagnosis outcomes were analysed descriptively through frequency distributions, aggregate analysis, and graphs. The influence of risk factors on the disease manifestations (diagnosis outcomes) was determined using regression analysis.ResultsOur results show that living in a tropical climate is by far a major risk factor associated with tropical diseases (malaria: t = 19.9, typhoid: t = − 3.2, chickenpox: t = − 6.5 and typhoid: t = 12.7). The risk for contracting infections is relative to specific diseases; for example, contact with chickenpox infected person poses a high risk of contracting the virus (t = 41.8), while poor personal hygiene predisposes people to high risk of urinary tract infection (t = 23.6). On the other hand, urbanization and homelessness pose very low risks of disposing the individual to the diseases under consideration, while low fluid intake, lack of voiding, and wearing non-cotton underwear predispose individuals to few diseases.ConclusionThe risk factors identified in our study exert differential and discriminating influences in the causation, predisposition, and transmission of these disease studied. It is recommended that significant effort be devoted by governments in the tropics to the mitigation of these modifiable risk factors. The most important strategy to mitigate the occurrence of these risk factors will be improving the living conditions of people and the provision of social protection measures to reduce the occurrence and burden of these diseases.
Highlights
Often, non-clinical risk factors could affect the predisposition of an individual to diseases
The results indicate that malaria was the most commonly diagnosed disease, followed by urinary tract infection (UTI), and typhoid
We analysed risk factors associated with some tropical diseases and determined the prevalence of these diseases in the population based on diagnoses
Summary
Non-clinical risk factors could affect the predisposition of an individual to diseases. Tropical diseases are a diverse group of infectious diseases that are endemic in tropical and subtropical regions. They are caused by pathogens like viruses, bacteria, and parasites. The difficulty associated with early diagnosis is of particular concern because tropical diseases can present with overlapping and confusable symptoms. Understanding the symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis, and treatments of these diseases is of global importance as they can give further insights into their differential diagnoses. Tropical diseases present a diagnostic challenge to physicians, especially in non-endemic regions. An understanding of the various risk factors for tropical diseases can give improved insights into their differential diagnoses. It has been established that a substantial epidemiological shift occurred in the contribution of different risk factors to disease burden within 1990–2010 [4]
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