Neglected Clubfoot- a Community Health Challenge in Rural Odisha, India

Neglected clubfoot deformities are very rigid & stiff that need surgical correction. Unlike countries like china, Uganda, and Malawi, no dedicated National program has been implemented for clubfoot management in India. The burden of disability from untreated or partly treated clubfoot is relatively high. With the existing issues, it has been observed that untreated clubfoot is a public health problem in most low and middle-income countries.

To conduct an observational analysis of the community approach to the correction of neglected clubfoot by corrective rehabilitation surgery camps.

The study included the retrospective data of all the neglected clubfoot children who had undergone clubfoot corrective surgery in 13 different remote districts of Odisha, held every year between February 2014 to October 2022 except during covid 19 pandemic period (2020 and 2021). A total of 993 clubfeet of 731 children were corrected through community approach-based corrective camp surgery. Follow-up was done for all the operated children with post-op plaster and orthosis till they returned back to the community.

About 46.78% of study participants were within the age group of 5 years. Male presentation [454 males (62.10%)] was reportedly found 1.6 times higher than the female [277 females (37.89%)]. Most of them belonged to minor communities, socially and economically backward classes from various rural districts of eastern India. The Association of different socially backward categories of clubfoot children with the district they belonged to, was found significant statistically (p value < 0.001). When gender distribution was compared among the district where surgical camps were conducted, the association was statistically not significant (p value = 0.676).

Neglected clubfoot in rural areas can be managed by camp approach. The establishment of a robust standard operating procedure for the conduction of community-based surgical camps may be required to reduce the morbidity level in children with neglected clubfoot.