Open AccessPublic awareness, knowledge of availability, and willingness to use neurosurgical care services in Sub-Saharan Africa: A cross-sectional study
Author(s) -
Chibuikem Ikwuegbuenyi,
Alice Umutoni,
Neri Ngole Atabe Ngwene,
Placide Ngoma,
Arsène Daniel Nyalundja,
Daniel Safari Nteranya,
Tunde A. Olobatoke,
Oloruntoba Ogunfolaji,
Dawin Sichimba,
Joanitor Najjuma,
Lorraine Arabang Sebopelo,
Aliyu Baba Ndajiwo,
Michael A. Bamimore,
Gideon Adegboyega,
Ulrick Sidney Kanmounye
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0264955
Subject(s) - medicine , neurosurgery , public health , cross sectional study , health care , odds ratio , family medicine , confidence interval , environmental health , nursing , psychiatry , pathology , economics , economic growth
Low- and middle-income countries bear the majority of neurosurgical disease burden and patients face significant barriers to seeking, reaching, and receiving care. We aimed to understand barriers to seeking care among adult Africans by evaluating the public perception, knowledge of availability, and readiness to use neurosurgical care services. Methods An e-survey was distributed among African adults who are not in the health sector or pursuing a health-related degree. Chi-square test and ANOVA were used for bivariate analysis and the alpha value was set at 0.05. Odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results Six hundred and sixty-two adults from 16 African countries aged 25.4 (95% CI: 25.0, 25.9) responded. The majority lived in urban settings (90.6%) and were English-speaking (76.4%) men (54.8%). Most respondents (76.3%) could define neurosurgery adequately. The most popular neurosurgical diseases were traumatic brain injury (76.3%), congenital brain and spine diseases (67.7%), and stroke (60.4%). Unwillingness to use or recommend in-country neurosurgical services was associated with rural dwelling (β = -0.69, SE = 0.31, P = 0.03), lack of awareness about the availability of neurosurgeons in-country (β = 1.02, SE = 0.20, P<0.001), and believing neurosurgery is expensive (β = -1.49, SE = 0.36, P<0.001). Conclusion Knowledge levels about neurosurgery are satisfactory; however, healthcare-seeking is negatively impacted by multiple factors.