Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on handwashing practices among community members in the middle belt of Ghana: evidence from a cross-sectional study.

Handwashing is an effective public health intervention for preventing the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Maintenance of clean hands is particularly important during the pandemic, to break the cycle of human-to-human transmission of the virus. This study explored the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the handwashing behaviours of residents before and during the pandemic. A mixed-method cross-sectional design using standardised questionnaire was used to examine hand handwashing behaviours among residents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the middle belt of Ghana. However, this paper reports on the quantitative data on handwashing behaviour only. A total of 517 participants between 18 to 60 years were randomly selected from the Kintampo Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) database. Descriptive statistics were performed and McNamar test was used to estimate the difference in the handwashing behaviour of residents. Majority of the respondents were females (54.6%). The majority of them 77.0% (398) usually wash their hands with soap and water. Those who washed hands 4 to 6 times a day before the pandemic increased from 39.9% (159) to 43.7% (174). About 34.8% (180) had received training on hand washing and television 53.3% (96) emerged as the main source of training. Ownership of handwashing facilities increased from 11.4% (59) to 22.8% (118) during the pandemic. The odds of handwashing after handshaking were lower 0.64 (95% C1: 0.44-0.92,) during the pandemic. Television (53.3%) was the main source of training for respondents who had received training on handwashing (34.8%). The odds of owning a handwashing facility during the pandemic were 3 times higher than before (OR = 2.97, 95% CI: 1.94 - 4.65). The odds of handwashing after sneezing were 1.8 (95% CI: 1.19-2.92) times higher during the pandemic. Handwashing behaviours during the pandemic improved among residents than before. However, there is a need to intensify health education and media engagement on proper handwashing practices to protect the population against infectious diseases.

"I don't want to have anything to do with someone suspected of COVID-19": a genuine infection avoidance interest or inappropriate concerns related to stigma?

Background: Human existence is being challenged by an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 that began in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Efforts to avoid the spread of COVID-19 are undermined by the appearance of disease-associated avoidance of infected persons due to reasons such as social stigma and discrimination. Objective: This study seeks to investigate avoidance and discrimination against persons suspected of COVID-19 to help fight the pandemic in a predominantly rural setting in Ghana. Materials and Methods: The study is a cross sectional survey. A random sample of 517 individuals drawn from a health and demographic surveillance system database was used for this study. Participants resided in six contiguous districts and municipalities of predominantly rural setting in the Bono East Region of Ghana. Results: The findings showed that majority (60%) of the respondents agreed that they won't have anything to do with someone suspected of COVID-19. However, 67% of them were willing to accommodate persons that recovered from the infection. The majority (91%) of respondents agreed that there is a need to adopt tolerant attitude towards persons who recovered from the infection, whilst another 98% also reported the need to show compassion towards persons who recovered from COVID-19. Conclusions: There is the need to pay special attention to avoidance of suspected infected persons due to stigma or any other reason since it is a threat to the fight against the pandemic.

Continued disruptions in health care services and mental health among health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in five sub-Saharan African countries.

Background: Continuous monitoring of the pandemic's impact on health service provision and mental health, COVID-19 perceptions, and compliance with prevention measures among health care providers (HCPs) can help with mitigating the pandemic's negative effects. Methods: A computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) survey was conducted among 1499 HCPs in Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou), Ethiopia (Addis Ababa), Nigeria (Lagos and Ibadan), Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), and Ghana (Kintampo). Self-reported mental health, perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and prevention measures available in the workplace were assessed. HCPs' responses to questions regarding the impact of COVID-19 on nine essential health services were summed into a score; high service disruption was defined as a score higher than the total average score across all sites. Modified Poisson regression was used to identify potential factors related to high service disruption. Results: Overall, 26.9% of HCPs reported high service disruption, with considerable differences across sites (from 1.6% in Dar es Salaam to 45.0% in Addis Ababa). A considerable proportion of HCPs reported experiencing mild psychological distress (9.4%), anxiety (8.0%), and social avoidance or rejection (13.9%) due to their profession. Participants in Addis Ababa (absolute risk ratio (ARR) = 2.10; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.59-2.74), Lagos (ARR = 1.65; 95% CI = 1.24-2.17), and Kintampo (ARR = 2.61; 95% CI = 1.94-3.52) had a higher likelihood of reporting high service disruption compared to those in Ouagadougou. Reporting ever-testing for COVID-19 (ARR = 0.82; 95% CI = 0.69-0.97) and the presence of COVID-19 guidelines in the workplace (ARR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.53-0.77) were both associated with lower reported health service disruption among HCPs. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt essential health services and present a challenge to HCPs' mental health, with important differences across countries and settings; interventions are needed to mitigate these negative effects of the pandemic.

The application of a biometric identification technique for linking community and hospital data in rural Ghana.

BACKGROUND: The reliability of counts for estimating population dynamics and disease burdens in communities depends on the availability of a common unique identifier for matching general population data with health facility data. Biometric data has been explored as a feasible common identifier between the health data and sociocultural data of resident members in rural communities within the Kintampo Health and Demographic Surveillance System located in the central part of Ghana. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to assess the feasibility of using fingerprint identification to link community data and hospital data in a rural African setting. DESIGN: A combination of biometrics and other personal identification techniques were used to identify individual's resident within a surveillance population seeking care in two district hospitals. Visits from resident individuals were successfully recorded and categorized by the success of the techniques applied during identification. The successes of visits that involved identification by fingerprint were further examined by age. RESULTS: A total of 27,662 hospital visits were linked to resident individuals. Over 85% of those visits were successfully identified using at least one identification method. Over 65% were successfully identified and linked using their fingerprints. Supervisory support from the hospital administration was critical in integrating this identification system into its routine activities. No concerns were expressed by community members about the fingerprint registration and identification processes. CONCLUSIONS: Fingerprint identification should be combined with other methods to be feasible in identifying community members in African rural settings. This can be enhanced in communities with some basic Demographic Surveillance System or census information.

Economic costs of fever to households in the middle belt of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Malaria is one of the main health problems in the sub-Saharan Africa accounting for approximately 198 million morbidity and close to 600,000 mortality cases. Households incur out-of-pocket expenditure for treatment and lose income as a result of not being able to work or care for family members. The main objective of this survey was to assess the economic cost of treating malaria and/or fever with the new ACT to households in the Kintampo districts of Ghana where a health and demographic surveillance systems (KHDSS) are set up to document population dynamics. METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional survey conducted from October 2009 to July 2011 using community members' accessed using KHDSS population in the Kintampo area. An estimated sample size of 4226 was randomly selected from the active members of the KHDSS. A structured questionnaire was administered to the selected populates who reported of fever within the last 2 weeks prior to the visit. Data was collected on treatment-seeking behaviour, direct and indirect costs of malaria from the patient perspective. RESULTS: Of the 4226 households selected, 947 households with 1222 household members had fever out of which 92 % sought treatment outside home; 55 % of these were females. 31.6 % of these patients sought care from chemical shops. A mean amount of GHS 4.2 (US$2.76) and GHS 18.0 (US$11.84) were incurred by households as direct and indirect cost respectively. On average a household incurred a total cost of GHS 22.2 (US$14.61) per patient per episode. Total economic cost was lowest for those in the highest quintile and highest for those in the middle quintile. CONCLUSION: The total cost of treating fever/malaria episode is relatively high in the study area considering the poverty levels in Ghana. The NHIS has positively influenced health-seeking behaviours and reduced the financial burden of seeking care for those that are insured.

Seeking treatment for uncomplicated malaria: experiences from the Kintampo districts of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Malaria accounts for many deaths and illnesses, mostly among young children and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. An integrated approach is recommended to ensure effective malaria control. Socio-cultural factors continue to serve as determinants of malaria health-seeking behaviour. An INDEPTH effectiveness and safety study platform was established to unearth issues around the use of licensed and nationally recommended anti-malarials in real life settings. This study reports on treatment-seeking behaviour for uncomplicated malaria among community members. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted in the dry and rainy seasons in purposively selected communities in Kintampo north and south districts. This was based on distances to a health facility, ethnicity and availability of medicines at the sale outlets. Twenty-four focus group discussions were conducted among adult men, women care-takers of children less than 5 years and pregnant women. Ten INDEPTH interviews were also conducted among operators of medicine sale outlets and managers of health facilities. Fifty-one illnesses narrative interviews were conducted among adult men, women, women caretakers of children less than 5 years and pregnant women. Transcripts were transferred into Nvivo 8 software for data management and analysis. RESULTS: The artemisinin-based combinations that were commonly known and used were artesunate-amodiaquine and artemether-lumefantrine. Use of herbal preparation to treat diseases including uncomplicated malaria is rife in the communities. Drug stores were not the main source of artemisinin-based combination sales at time of the study. Monotherapies, pain killers and other medicines were purchased from these shops for malaria treatment. Dizziness, general body weakness and sleepiness were noted among respondents who used artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in the past. CONCLUSION: There is no clear cut trajectory for management of uncomplicated malaria in the study area. Different approaches are adopted when treating malaria. There is need for community education to influence behaviour on the management of malaria to achieve real gains from ACT use.

CHILDHOOD RESPIRATORY MORBIDITY AND COOKING PRACTICES AMONG HOUSEHOLDS IN A PREDOMINANTLY RURAL AREA OF GHANA.

BACKGROUND: Household air pollution is a leading risk factor for respiratory morbidity and mortality in developing countries where biomass fuel is mainly used for cooking. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A household cross-sectional survey was conducted in a predominantly rural area of Ghana in 2007 to determine the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and their associated risk factors. Household cooking practices were also assessed as part of the survey. RESULTS: Household heads of twelve thousand, three hundred and thirty-three households were interviewed. Fifty-seven percent (7006/12333) of these households had at least one child less than five years of age. The prevalence of symptoms of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) was 13.7% (n= 957, 95% CI 12.8 - 15.5%). A majority (77.8%, 95% CI, 77.7 - 78.5%) of households used wood as their primary fuel. Majority of respondents who used wood as their primary fuel obtained them by gathering wood from their neighborhood (95.6%, 9177/9595) and used a 3-stone local stove for cooking (94.9%, 9101/9595). In a randomly selected subset of respondents, females were the persons who mostly gathered firewood from the fields (90.8%, 296/326) and did the cooking (94.8%, 384/406) for the household. CONCLUSION: Symptoms of ALRI reported by caregivers is high in the Kintampo area of Ghana where biomass fuel use is also high. There is the need to initiate interventions that use improved cook stoves and to test the health benefits of such interventions.

Childhood respiratory morbidity and cooking practices among households in a predominantly rural area of Ghana

Background: Household air pollution is a leading risk factor for respiratory morbidity and mortality in developing countries where biomass fuel is mainly used for cooking. Materials and Method: A household cross-sectional survey was conducted in a predominantly rural area of Ghana in 2007 to determine the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and their associated risk factors. Household cooking practices were also assessed as part of the survey. Results: Household heads of twelve thousand; three hundred and thirty-three households were interviewed. Fifty-seven percent 7006/12333) of these households had at least one child less than five years of age. The prevalence of symptoms of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) was 13.7% (n= 957; 95% CI 12.8 - 15.5%). A majority (77.8%; 95% CI; 77.7 - 78.5%) of households used wood as their primary fuel. Majority of respondents who used wood as their primary fuel obtained them by gathering wood from their neighborhood (95.6%; 9177/9595) and used a 3-stone local stove for cooking (94.9%; 9101/9595). In a randomly selected subset of respondents; females were the persons who mostly gathered firewood from the fields (90.8%; 296/326) and did the cooking (94.8%; 384/406) for the household. Conclusion: Symptoms of ALRI reported by caregivers is high in the Kintampo area of Ghana where biomass fuel use is also high. There is the need to initiate interventions that use improved cook stoves and to test the health benefits of such interventions

Use of Antimalarial in the Management of Fever during a Community Survey in the Kintampo Districts of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiology of malaria and related fevers in most parts of Africa is changing due to scale up of interventions such as appropriate use of ACTs in the effort towards sustained control and eventual elimination of malaria. The use of ACTs in the management of malaria-associated fever was evaluated in the Kintampo districts of Ghana. METHODS: Household survey was conducted between October 2009 and February, 2011. A random selection of 370 households was generated from 25,000 households existing within the Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems in Kintampo, Ghana at the time. All household members present at the time of survey in the eligible households were interviewed based on a two weeks reported fever recall and the use of antimalarial for the management of fever. A finger-prick blood sample was also obtained from each member of the household present and later examined for malaria parasites using microscopy. Descriptive analysis was performed, with univariate and multivariate analysis used to identify predictors of fever and malaria parasitemia. RESULTS: A total of 1436 individuals were interviewed from 370 households. Overall, fever prevalence was 23.8% (341/1436) and was 38.8% (77/198) in children < 5 years, 21.3% (264/1238) in older children plus adults. Participants who sought treatment for fever were 84% (285/341) with 47.7% (136/285) using any anti-malarial. Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy use was in 69.1% (94/136) of cases while 30.9% used mono-therapies. Malaria parasitaemia rate was 28.2% (397/1407). CONCLUSION: The study reports high community fever prevalence, frequent use of antimalarials for fever treatment and relatively high use of mono-therapies especially in children < 5 years in an area with high malaria parasite prevalence in Ghana.

Provider compliance to artemisinin-based combination therapy at primary health care facilities in the middle belt of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: In 2004, Ghana implemented the artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) policy. Health worker (HW) adherence to the national malaria guidelines on case-management with ACT for children below 5 years of age and older patients presenting at health facilities (HF) for primary illness consultations was evaluated 5 years post-ACT policy change. METHODS: Cross-sectional surveys were conducted from 2010 to 2011 at HFs that provide curative care as part of outpatient activities in two districts located in the middle belt of Ghana to coincide with the periods of low and high malaria transmission seasons. A review of patient medical records, HW interviews, HF inventories and finger-pricked blood obtained for independent malaria microscopy were used to assess HW practices on malaria case-management. RESULTS: Data from 130 HW interviews, 769 patient medical records at 20 HFs over 75 survey days were individually linked and evaluated. The majority of consultations were performed at health centres/clinics (68.3 %) by medical assistants (28.6 %) and nurse aids (23.5 %). About 68.4 % of HWs had received ACT-specific training and 51.9 %, supervisory visits in the preceding 6 months. Despite the availability of malaria diagnostic test at most HFs (94 %), only 39.8 % (241) out of 605 (78.7 %) patients who reported fever were investigated for malaria. Treatment with ACT in line with the guidelines was 66.7 %; higher in <5 children compared to patients ≥5 years old. Judged against reference microscopy, only 44.8 % (107/239) of ACT prescriptions that conformed to the guidelines were "truly malaria". Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that HW were significantly more likely to comply with the guidelines if treatment were by low cadre of health staff, were for children below 5 years of age, and malaria test was performed. CONCLUSION: Although the majority of patients presenting with malaria received treatment according to the national malaria guidelines, there were widespread inappropriate treatment with ACT. Compliance with the guidelines on ACT use was low, 5 years post-ACT policy change. The Ghana NMCP needs to strengthen HW capacity on malaria case-management through regular training supported by effective laboratory quality control measures.

Personal exposures to fine particulate matter and black carbon in households cooking with biomass fuels in rural Ghana.

OBJECTIVE: To examine cooking practices and 24-h personal and kitchen area exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and black carbon in cooks using biomass in Ghana. METHODS: Researchers administered a detailed survey to 421 households. In a sub-sample of 36 households, researchers collected 24-h integrated PM2.5 samples (personal and kitchen area); in addition, the primary cook was monitored for real-time PM2.5. All filters were also analyzed for black carbon using a multi-wavelength reflectance method. Predictors of PM2.5 exposure were analyzed, including cooking behaviors, fuel, stove and kitchen type, weather, demographic factors and other smoke sources. RESULTS: The majority of households cooked outdoors (55%; 231/417), used biomass (wood or charcoal) as their primary fuel (99%; 412/413), and cooked on traditional fires (77%, 323/421). In the sub-sample of 29 households with complete, valid exposure monitoring data, the 24-h integrated concentrations of PM2.5 were substantially higher in the kitchen sample (mean 446.8 µg/m3) than in the personal air sample (mean 128.5 µg/m3). Black carbon concentrations followed the same pattern such that concentrations were higher in the kitchen sample (14.5 µg/m3) than in the personal air sample (8.8 µg/m3). Spikes in real-time personal concentrations of PM2.5 accounted for the majority of exposure; the most polluted 5%, or 72 min, of the 24-h monitoring period accounted for 75% of all exposure. Two variables that had some predictive power for personal PM2.5 exposures were primary fuel type and ethnicity, while reported kerosene lantern use was associated with increased personal and kitchen area concentrations of black carbon. CONCLUSION: Personal concentrations of PM2.5 exhibited considerable inter-subject variability across kitchen types (enclosed, semi-enclosed, outdoor), and can be elevated even in outdoor cooking settings. Furthermore, personal concentrations of PM2.5 were not associated with kitchen type and were not predicted by kitchen area samples; rather they were driven by spikes in PM2.5 concentrations during cooking. Personal exposures were more enriched with black carbon when compared to kitchen area samples, underscoring the need to explore other sources of incomplete combustion such as roadway emissions, charcoal production and kerosene use.

The benefits or otherwise of managing malaria cases with or without laboratory diagnosis: the experience in a district hospital in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted at the Kintampo Municipal Hospital in Ghana to determine whether there was any benefit (or otherwise) in basing the management of cases of suspected malaria solely on laboratory confirmation (microscopy or by RDT) as compared with presumptive diagnosis. METHOD: Children under five years who reported at the Out-Patient Department of the Hospital with axillary temperature ≥37.5°C or with a 48 hr history of fever were enrolled and had malaria microscopy and RDT performed. The attending clinician was blinded from laboratory results unless a request for these tests had been made earlier. Diagnosis of malaria was based on three main methods: presumptive or microscopy and/or RDT. Cost implication for adopting laboratory diagnosis or not was determined to inform malaria control programmes. RESULTS: In total, 936 children were enrolled in the study. Proportions of malaria diagnosed presumptively, by RDT and microscopy were 73.6% (689/936), 66.0% (618/936) and 43.2% (404/936) respectively. Over 50% (170/318) of the children who were RDT negative and 60% (321/532) who were microscopy negative were treated for malaria when presumptive diagnoses were used. Comparing the methods of diagnoses, the cost of malaria treatment could have been reduced by 24% and 46% in the RDT and microscopy groups respectively; the reduction was greater in the dry season (43% vs. 50%) compared with the wet season (20% vs. 45%) for the RDT and microscopy confirmed cases respectively. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Over-diagnosis of malaria was prevalent in Kintampo during the period of the study. Though the use of RDT for diagnosis of malaria might have improved the quality of care for children, it appeared not to have a cost saving effect on the management of children with suspected malaria. Further research may be needed to confirm this.

Perceived Facilitators and Barriers to Interventions Aimed at Reducing Unintended Pregnancies among Adolescents in Low and Middle Income (Developing) Countries: a Systematic Review of Qualitative Evidence.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent pregnancies are most often the result of sexual risk taking. Such pregnancies are in themselves "risks" perpetuating other adverse social outcomes on the adolescents who go through such pregnancies. Of the close to 14 million births among adolescents each year, between one-third and two-thirds are unplanned. Unplanned pregnancies coupled with societal restrictions result in adolescents opting for abortions under unsafe conditions. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review is to present the best available evidence on perceived facilitators and barriers to successful outcomes of programs aimed at reducing pregnancies among adolescents in low and middle income countries. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Persons aged between 10 and 19 years residing in low and middle income countries, but during the review process, those up to 25 years, adults and opinion leaders were included.Perceived facilitators and barriers to interventions aimed at reducing pregnancies among adolescents in developing countries.The review considered studies that used qualitative study designs, including but not limited to: phenomenology, grounded theory, action research, narrative studies, descriptive studies, ethnographies, cultural studies, behavioural studies, case studies and feminist research. SEARCH STRATEGY: The search strategy aimed to find both published and unpublished studies in English over the period of January, 1960 to December, 2010. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: Critical appraisal of papers was conducted using standardized tools from the Joanna Briggs Institute by two independent reviewers. DATA COLLECTION: Data was extracted using standardized tools from the Joanna Briggs Institute. DATA SYNTHESIS: Findings were synthesized on the basis of similarity of meaning using software from the Joanna Briggs Institute. RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included in the review which generated 103 findings, grouped into 22 categories and then further grouped into 11 synthesized findings, based on similarity of meaning. Seventeen categories (eight synthesized findings) described perceived barriers and five categories (three synthesized findings) described perceived facilitators. CONCLUSIONS: Synthesized findings on both the barriers and facilitators encompassed adolescent, parental, community, health facility, care providers, school environment and societal contributing factors. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Further research should be conducted into the following.

Community perceptions of malaria and malaria treatment behaviour in a rural district of Ghana: implications for artemisinin combination therapy.

BACKGROUND: Artesunate-amodiaquine (AS-AQ) was introduced in Ghana as the first line drug for treatment of uncomplicated malaria in 2004. We report the perceptions of malaria and malaria treatment behaviour, the community awareness of and perceptions about AS-AQ two years after the introduction of this ACT treatment for malaria. METHODS: Two surveys were conducted; a cross-sectional survey of 729 randomly selected household heads (urban-362, rural-367) and 282 women with children < 5 years (urban-121, rural-161) was conducted in 2006. A district wide survey was conducted in 2007 to assess awareness of AS-AQ. These were complemented with twenty-eight focus group discussions (FGDs) and 16 key informant interviews (KII) among community members and major stakeholders in the health care delivery services. All nine (9) health facilities and five (5) purposively selected drug stores were audited in order to identify commonly used anti-malarials in the study area at the time of the survey. RESULTS: Majority of respondents ( > 75%) in the sampled survey mentioned mosquito bites as the cause of malaria. Other causes mentioned include environmental factors (e.g. dirty surroundings) and standing in the sun. Close to 60% of the household heads and 40% of the care-givers interviewed did not know about AS-AQ. The community respondents who knew about and had ever taken AS-AQ perceived it to be a good drug; although they mentioned they had experienced some side effects including headaches and body weakness. Co-blistered AS-AQ was available in all the government health facilities in the study area. Different formulations of ACTs were however found in urban chemical shops but not in rural chemical stores where monotherapy antimalarials were predominant. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of fever as a symptom of malaria is high among the study population. The awareness of AS-AQ therapy and its side-effect was low in the study area. Community education and sensitization, targeting all categories of the population, has to be intensified to ensure an efficient implementation process.

The experience of living with chronic manifestations of Lymphatic Filariasis among patients 15 years and older in developing countries: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Lymphatic filariasis is considered a disease of the poor with painful and profoundly disfiguring consequences. It is transmitted by the mosquito. Lymphatic filariasis is found among persons residing in rural areas and at the periphery of communities predominantly in developing countries in the tropics. OBJECTIVES: To present the best evidence regarding the experiences of persons living with chronic manifestations of lymphatic filariasis, their experiences of treatment strategies and how the condition influences their social relationships within the context of developing countries. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Study subjects were persons 15 years and older with chronic lymphatic filariasis living in developing countries.Phenomena of interest Publications that were selected considered the experiences of persons living with chronic lymphatic filariasis, their experiences of treatment measures and their social relationships.Types of studies Qualitative research papers (including but not limited to: phenomenology, grounded theory, action research, narrative studies, descriptive studies, ethnographies, cultural studies, behavioral studies, case studies and feminist research) exploring the experiences of persons living with chronic manifestations of lymphatic filariasis within the context of developing countries SEARCH STRATEGY: A three-step search strategy was utilised to search for published and unpublished studies over the period of 1980-2007. MEDLINE and CINAHL were initially searched for keywords and index terms that were then used to search across all the other data bases and finally the reference list of identified studies. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: Eligible publications were assessed by two independent reviewers for methodological validity using the standardised critical appraisal tools of the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-QARI) DATA EXTRACTION: Data extraction was conducted using the standardised data extraction tools of the JBI-QARI. Extracted information consisted of details on relevant aspects of the identified studies. DATA SYNTHESIS: Study findings were categorised according to the JBI-QARI degrees of credibility scale, and placed in categories of similar meaning. Categories were finally meta-synthesised. RESULTS: Six (6) included studies yielded 41 findings that were placed in 8 categories and finally meta-synthesised into 3 synthesised findings: CONCLUSION: Policy guidelines on chronic lymphatic filariasis management need to provide a holistic approach with the involvement of communities. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Much more research into elephantiasis management should be encouraged; so should qualitative research with rigorous methodological approaches into all aspects of lymphatic filariasis. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Interventions should address in concert with other needs the psycho-emotional health of patients. Counseling should be incorporated into surgical management of hydroceles to allay fears of death.