[Assessment of the disability weight for chronic schistosomiasis japonica in lake region].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To estimate a suitable disability weight for chronic schistosomiasis japonica in a lake area of China. METHODS: A total of 219 chronic schistosomiasis patients from surveillance sites in Yangxin County of Hubei Province received questionnairing. The age- and sex-specific disability weights of chronic schistosomiasis were estimated based on the six classes of disability severity identified by Global Burden of Disease (GBD). All data was managed by Epidata 3.1. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS8.1. Rank sum test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to examine the differences between disability weights. Pair-wise comparison was done by Nemenyi method. Multifactor logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of disability weight. RESULTS: The average disability weight was 0.122, and age-specific weight ranged from 0.020 to 0.280. The disability weight increased with age. Significant differences were found among different age groups (chi2=152.590, P<0.01). The disability weight of males (0.103) was significantly lower (Z=2.405, P<0.05) than that of females (0.147). Multi-factor logistic regression models indicated that the disability weight was significantly associated with age (OR=1.173, 95% CI 1.130-1.217), and income level was a protective factor (OR=0.497, 95% CI 0.319-0.775), while age was a confounding factor. CONCLUSION: An average disability weight of 0.122 for chronic schistosomiasis japonica indicates that 1/8 healthy year has lost for each survived life year of the patients, higher than the data of GBD.