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Incidence and Correlates of Diarrhea, Fever, Malaria and Weight Loss Among Elderly and Non-Elderly Internally Displaced Parents in Cibombo Cimuangi in the Eastern Kasai Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Abstract

Socio-demographic and medical information about internally displaced persons in all parts of the world is lacking. One area where many of these persons reside is the Democratic Republic of Congo. A cross-sectional survey was used to assess the differences, if any, between elderly and non-elderly internally displaced parents in Cibombo Cimuangi, a resettlement community in the Eastern Kasai province. The survey was undertaken in 2005. Adults members from these households provided data on the experience of disease episodes over a six-month period and demographic information. Elderly internally displaced parents (older than 60 years) and non-elderly displaced parents were compared in number of illnesses (e.g., fever, weight loss) and selected demographic variables. These groups are similar in terms of experience of disease, but significantly different in terms of level of spouse's education and concentration of adult children in the household. Adjusting for these two demographic variables did not change the experience of illness for either type of parents. We discussed reasons for the absence of differences in disease incidence between the two groups and several factors that will impact internally displaced persons in Africa in the future.

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Notes

  1. Named Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1997, the country was known under another different name during each of the five significant periods of its political history. It was known as “Congo Free State” between 1886 and 1906. The country was renamed “Belgian Congo” in 1906 following its annexing to Belgium and it retained this name until 1960. With the advent of Independence, the country was renamed “Republic of the Congo” and it maintained this name until 1971 when Mobutu abolished this name, replacing it by “Zaire”. The removal of Mobutu from office in 1997 brought Laurent Kabila to power. Kabila decided to name the country “Democratic Republic of the Congo” and this new name has been officially adopted and included in the 2006 Congolese Constitution.

  2. One would expect exacerbation of the misery in the community of Cibombo Cimuangi given that most of the resources were diverted from social programs and deployed into the wars at a time when social, health and educational infrastructures were badly needed in favor of these newly resettled IDPs.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the 25 first-year medical students, Medical School, University of Mbuji Mayi, Eastern Kasai Province (Democratic Republic of the Congo) for their assistance with data collection to support this study. We thank Dr Vincent, Medecin Chief of Zone and the staff of health zone of Mpokolo for their guidance and support in the execution of data collection. We finally thank members of the community of internally displaced persons in Cibombo Cimuangi for their willingness to participate in the survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Health Professions, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount Street, Wichita, KS, 67260-0043, USA

    Ngoyi K. Z. Bukonda

  2. Department of Physical Therapy, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA

    Barbara Smith

  3. Faculté de Médecine, Université de Mbuji Mayi, Mbuji Mayi, Eastern Kasai Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Tumba G. Disashi

  4. Family and Child Studies, School of Family Consumer and Nutrition Science, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    JaneRose Njue

  5. School of Social Work, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA

    Kyoung Hag Lee

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  1. Ngoyi K. Z. Bukonda
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Correspondence to Ngoyi K. Z. Bukonda.

Appendix: Copy of Survey Questionnaire

Appendix: Copy of Survey Questionnaire

CARDINAL MALULA FOUNDATION

UNIVESITY OF MBUJIMAYI

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICAL WORKS

(Supervised by Professor Ngoyi Bukonda)

HEALTH SOCIO –ECONOMIC SURVEY ABOUT HOUSEHOLDS IN CIBOMBO CIMUANGI

Introduction

My name is…………………; and I am a first year student in the school of medicine at the University of Mbujimayi. In the context of the public health course under the supervision of Professor Ngoyi Bukonda, I am required to complete a practical assignment which consists in meeting and talking to 25 households in the community of Cibombo Cimuangi. Your household is one of the households I am asked to visit on this street. This is a survey aimed at collecting the necessary information to better understand health conditions of households in Cibombo Cimuangi. This exercise will also enable students to reconcile theories and practice. The findings of the survey may also be useful to other humanitarian organizations interested in implementing health promotion projects in favor of people who live under these conditions. Please keep in mind that any information collected trough this study will be treated confidentially. Furthermore, only aggregate data will be published to avoid identifying the respondents. I thank you for your willingness to participate in this study.

Household History and Composition

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Household Framework and Living Conditions

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Table 6 Fecundity and maternal-kids health
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Table 7 Education
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Health Services Needs and Accessibility to Health Services

Table 8 Number of diseases’ episodes and major diagnosis of each household in the last 6 months
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Table 9 Sources of health care for each member reporting episodes of diseases in the last 6 months
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Table 10 Health care costs of each household member responding to the diseases’ episodes in the last 6 months
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Table 11 Total number of medical visits, hospitalizations, medical prescriptions in the last 6 months
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Annual Income

figure c

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Bukonda, N.K.Z., Smith, B., Disashi, T.G. et al. Incidence and Correlates of Diarrhea, Fever, Malaria and Weight Loss Among Elderly and Non-Elderly Internally Displaced Parents in Cibombo Cimuangi in the Eastern Kasai Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Population Ageing 5, 47–66 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-012-9057-9

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