Short Communication - (2022) Volume 8, Issue 11
Received: 01-Nov-2022, Manuscript No. IPAP-22-14975; Editor assigned: 03-Nov-2022, Pre QC No. IPAP-22-14975 (PQ); Reviewed: 17-Nov-2022, QC No. IPAP-22-14975; Revised: 22-Nov-2022, Manuscript No. IPAP-22-14975(R); Published: 29-Nov-2022, DOI: 10.4172/2469-6676-8.11.7190
Noma is an Orofacial disfiguring disease that affects the oral cavity and mid-facial structures. If left untreated, the condition is fatal. Noma creates severe cosmetic and functional defects among survivors, which leads to psychiatric and social problems. However, there is limited data on psychosocial and functional sequelae (morbidity) associated with the condition. This study aimed to assess the psychosocial and functional morbidity among patients presented with non-treated Noma-induced facial disfigurement in Ethiopia. The study also investigated patients’ postsurgical outcome expectations from the awaiting surgical procedure. A one-point cross-sectional study of Noma patients waiting for Orofacial reconstruction in Facing Africa and Harar projects was conducted to investigate the condition’s psychosocial, functional, and aesthetic impacts. Furthermore, the study assessed the postoperative patients’ expectations of the upcoming surgery. The APA DSM-5 Severity Measure for Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia), the DAS59, and the Appearance Anxiety Inventory-based questionnaire were used to measure the psychological and social morbidity among those afflicted with the condition outcomes, respectively. The questions were drafted based on Likert’s psychometric and functional impairments measuring scales that were coined around the core objectives of the study.
The 5 and 4-point Likert scales were used to scale the responses of the surveyed study participants. Furthermore, the questionnaire included a single question designed to assess patients’ expectations after the forthcoming surgical intervention. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software was used to analyse the collected data. Furthermore, a numerical analysis of the Likert scale was conducted to derive a numerical value (domain sentiment score) that quantifies and describes the cumulative response of the study participants in each studied domain (psychological, social, or functional). Items sentiment scores were calculated for each question in the questionnaire before calculating the corresponding domain sentiment scores. Each item on the measure was rated on a 5-point scale. Similarly, the item and domains (psychological and social) sentiment scores were also reduced to a 5-point scale, which allows the researcher to describe the severity of the psychological and social morbidity among the Noma cases in terms of the given item/question. Then, the summation of these findings was divided by the total number of study participants involved in the study to calculate each item’s sentiment score. The same principle was followed to calculate the domain sentiment scores. A total of 32 volunteer and accessible patients on the waiting list for future surgery in the Facing Africa and Harar projects were involved in this study. 18 (56.3%) were females, and 14 (43.7%) were males. The study participants’ age ranged from 20 to 61 years. After data analysis, the study participants were found to report severe social and psychological morbidity. The functional limitation was calculated to be moderate. Furthermore of the study participants believed that the surgery would help them to overcome these limitations. As shown in please see the table at the end of the text file, the social morbidity among the study participants was severe. The detailed psychosocial morbidity associated with Noma is described in the table below. Detailed results associated with Noma-induced psychological morbidity are described. The study participants were generally found to have severe psychological morbidity or social anxiety disorder. Findings related to Noma-induced functional morbidity are demonstrated the overall Noma-induced functional limitation was calculated to be moderate among those who reported at least one of the 4 functional impairments measured in the study. Reports revealed that people with craniofacial conditions are at known risk for various psychosocial problems, including low self-concept, learning and speech problems, depression, anxiety, and adverse social reactions from peers. When considering the psychosocial impact of Noma, it is essential to understand several elements of the disease. The Noma-induced disfiguring changes to the face can directly affect psychological and social health. At the same time, the physical aspects of the disease, such as the altered ability to open the mouth, unclear speech, and excessive drooling, may impact social and psychological function as a secondary phenomenon due to interference with daily living. A 37% prevalence rate of psychiatric morbidity was reported among Noma cases presented with disfigured faces in Nigeria. Similarly, the findings of this study disclosed severe Noma-induced social of the study participants were hopeful that the upcoming surgery would potentially resolve these problems [1-4].
Noma is associated with long-term functional, aesthetic, and psychosocial morbidities. For example, Noma survivors in Laos reported a high level of hopelessness and related functional impairments. The study participants in this study also reported considerable functional limitations, while of them remained unduly optimistic toward the forthcoming corrective surgery. The functional, social, and psychological aspects of Noma were significant determinants of Quality of Life (QOL) among the study participants. The present study suggested that the psychosocial morbidity among patients who were facially disfigured from NOMA was high. The findings revealed substantial proof of appearance concern due to poor facial appearance and dissatisfaction with facial looks among the study participants. This dissatisfaction with facial appearance may lead to behavioural problems. In light of these risks, periodic assessments of the psychosocial needs of people with Noma need to be underscored. There was a language barrier between the investigator and two study participants, which demanded the involvement of a translator. The translator might not translate the response of these study participants correctly, as everything existing in a particular language community may not be precisely translated into another language. This could potentially have a slight influence on the findings of the study.
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The author declares there is no conflict of interest in publishing this article.
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Citation: Araghi N (2022) Noma-Induced Facial Psychosocial Disfigurements. Act Psycho. 8:7190.
Copyright: © 2022 Araghi N. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
