ABSTRACT
Objective To understand the current distribution and characteristics of advanced schistosomiasis patients who accepted medical assistance in Hunan Province in 2015,so as to provide the evidence for perfecting the policy and measures of the medical assistance to advanced schistosomiasis patients. Methods The patients who had been diagnosed as advanced schis-tosomiasis were verified and confirmed according to the standard of the medical assistance to advanced schistosomiasis patients in Hunan Province in 2015. The epidemiological survey was conducted to investigate the demographic characteristics,history of diagnosis and treatment,and medical assistance to these persons. Results There were 3850 advanced schistosomiasis patients who accepted the medical assistance in Hunan Province in 2015,and among them,2664 patients were male(69.19%),and 1186 were female(30.81%). Most of them(92.82%)came from the main schistosomiasis endemic areas,such as Yueyang, Changde and Yiyang. There were 2369 cases of ascites(61.53%),1466 cases of splenomegaly(38.08%),15 cases of colon proliferation and dwarf(0.39%). The mean age of advanced schistosomiasis patients who accepted the medical assistance was (62.94 ± 11.67)years old,with 64.31% of them being more than 60 years old. The age of initial diagnosis of advanced schistoso-miasis was(53.85 ± 21.32)years old,and it was concentrated in 40-60 years old(68.57%). The mean duration of advanced schistosomiasis was(9.58 ± 10.06)years,and it was mainly distributed in 10 years(75.95%). The mean duration from initial diagnosis of schistosomiasis to advanced schistosomiasis was(22.33 ± 14.20)years. The priority of the medical assistance to ad-vanced schistosomiasis patients was given to the county hospitals(76.57%);and the effective rate of assistance was 94.46%. To-tally 86.57% of the patients with advanced schistosomiasis got the medical insurance(rural cooperative medical care,urban medical care,etc.). Conclusions The burden of the medical assistance to advanced schistosomiasis patients is still heavy be-cause of many patients and low cure rate in Hunan Province. The ascites patients and high age patients should be the important objects of the medical assistance.