Excess mortality among people with podoconiosis: secondary analysis of two Ethiopian cohorts

Abstract

Background: While morbidity attributable to podoconiosis is relatively well studied, its pattern of mortality has not been established.

Methods: We compared the age-standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) of two datasets from northern Ethiopia: podoconiosis patients enrolled in a 1-y trial and a Health and Demographic Surveillance System cohort.

Results: The annual crude mortality rate per 1000 population for podoconiosis patients was 28.7 (95% confidence interval [CI] 17.3 to 44.8; n=663) while that of the general population was 2.8 (95% CI 2.3 to 3.4; n=44 095). The overall SMR for the study period was 6.0 (95% CI 3.6 to 9.4).

Conclusions: Podoconiosis patients experience elevated mortality compared with the general population and further research is required to understand the reasons.

Keywords: Ethiopia; mortality; non-filarial elephantiasis; podoconiosis.