Abstract:
Disability has emerged as a major public health problem worldwide. Physical disabilities
are common in nations with disparate levels of socioeconomic development, among
them clubfoot. Clubfoot presents early in neonatal life and if not treated becomes more
disabling with age. Prevalence of clubfoot has been established to be 1.1 per 1000 births
in the United States. In Africa, the prevalence has been established to be 1.2 per 1000
births in Uganda and 3.4 in 1000 births in Nigeria. The study sought to determine factors
associated with non-compliance to bracing in clubfoot management among children
under five years in AIC Cure International Children’s Hospital, Kijabe, Kenya. The
study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive design. It was carried out at AIC Cure
International Children’s Hospital, Kijabe, Kenya between April and August 2018. The
study used a sample size of 174 participants. Ethical approval was sought from
KNH/UON Ethical Review Committee before data collection. A semi-structured pre tested questionnaire was used to collect data. Four focused group discussions were
conducted among mothers of children with different characteristics. Quantitative data
was entered for analysis using SPSS version 23.0. Chi square and Fisher’s exact tests
were performed to determine association between dependent and independent variables.
Presentation was done through frequencies, percentages, tables and charts. Data from
FGDs was analyzed using a three-stage thematic approach. Verbatim and textual
summaries was used to present qualitative data where applicable. The proportion of non compliance to bracing was 16.8%, and the cases of non-compliance to bracing were
mostly reported in mothers of male children (23.1%), and mostly among mothers of
children aged between 7-9 months of age (25.0%). Majority of those who did not
comply to bracing (36.8%) had secondary education and below. Inability to meet
transport costs, gender of the child and level of knowledge had significant association
with bracing with a p-value of 0.006, 0.001 and 0.026 respectively. The study concluded
that 83.2% of mothers complied to bracing which is a very positive finding. However,
16.8% of children with club foot are at a risk of getting a permanent disability because
their mothers did not comply to bracing, which calls for an intervention since this is a
public health risk. Also, 37.2% of the mothers did not exhibit knowledge on bracing
which poses a disability risk to their children. The study recommends sensitization of
communities/households through community heath volunteers and empowerment of
local facilities to be able to manage conditions like clubfoot in order to avoid relapse or
even permanent disability due to non-compliance. There is also need for health
education and promotion on clubfoot bracing and compliance.