Estimating pediatric surgical need in developing countries: a household survey in Rwanda

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Pediatric Surgery
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Surgical services for children are scarce in resource-limited settings.
• Understanding the prevalence of pediatric surgical disease is crucial for service development.
• Existing data on the burden of untreated pediatric surgical conditions is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the magnitude of surgical disease in the pediatric population in Rwanda.
• To characterize the prevalence of treatable surgical conditions in children at a community level.
• To provide population-level data for planning pediatric surgical interventions.

Main Methods:

• Nationwide cross-sectional cluster-based population survey conducted in Rwanda.
• Verbal questionnaire assessing congenital, acquired, malignant, and injury-related surgical conditions.
• Descriptive statistics and univariate analysis applied to pediatric responses.

Main Results:

• Survey included 1626 households (3175 individuals) with a 99% response rate.
• Children under 18 constituted 51.1% of the surveyed population.
• An estimated 6.3% of Rwandan children (341,164 individuals) have a treatable surgical condition, representing 50.5% of the total surgical need.

Conclusions:

• The study reveals a substantial burden of treatable surgical conditions among children in Rwanda.
• Results indicate a significant need for enhanced pediatric surgical education and resources.
• Findings support the development of collaborative local training programs for pediatric surgery.