Sociodemographic profile of patients with snakebite in Jharkhand

ABSTRACT

Background:Snakebites are a very serious issue that affects people all around the world. The world health organization (WHO) has recently classified snake bites as one of the neglected tropical diseases.Methods:It was an observational, prospective and cross-sectional study conducted at the department of general medicine, (Rajendra institute of medical sciences, Ranchi). A total of 60 patients suffering with first time snakebite were selected for this study by using a purposive sampling technique. Demographic data of the 60 selected cases were recorded in pre-designed standard study forms by means of structured personal interview of patients and attendants after taking informed consent.Results:The mean age � standard deviation of participants� age was 37.35�.123.There were 61.7% tribal people and 38.3% non-tribal people. Out of 60 cases included in this study, 93 % were from rural area and only 7% belonged to urban areas. The sociodemographic analysis showed that 93% patients were belonging to lower socioeconomicstatus and 7% were belonging to middle socioeconomic statusConclusions:The present study concluded that majority of the snakebite fresh cases in Jharkhand belonged to male gender. Majority of cases fell in the age range of 16-48 years, majority of casesbelonged to tribal community and rural areas.