Severe malaria-related disability in Ethiopian children from the perspectives of caregivers: an interpretive description study

Abstract

Purpose

This study explored severe malaria-related disability in children from the perspectives of their caregivers.

Materials and methods

The interpretive description qualitative approach was employed. The participants were selected using the purposive sampling technique considering the child’s history of severe malaria, age (0–10 years), and location (urban/rural). Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with sixteen caregivers. Reflexive thematic data analysis was utilized. Through prolonged engagement, reflective journaling, an audit trail, and co-authors’ review, trustworthiness was enhanced.

Results

The study generated five themes from the interviews: mitigators of disability, contributors of disability, impact on body function, impact on activities and participation, and uncertainties about future well-being. The findings revealed previously unstudied social components of disability and environmental factors. Furthermore, the research uncovered health-related quality of life aspects that are out of the scope of the current comprehensive disability framework.

Conclusions

The study contributes to a deeper understanding of severe malaria-related disability in children from the biopsychosocial perspective. The findings could help policymakers, researchers, and clinicians who want to design rehabilitation interventions for the affected children or examine the components of disability on a large scale using quantitative methods.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Various contextual factors interacted with severe malaria and influenced functioning either as facilitators or barriers, implying disability related to malaria can be prevented or created.

• The long-term impacts of severe malaria are not limited to functioning and disability but also affect the health-related quality of life of children who survive severe malaria.

• Rehabilitation professionals should consider applying comprehensive functioning and disability frameworks such as the ICF when designing (or applying) screening tools, planning interventions, and evaluating the outcomes of intervention for children with severe malaria-related disability.

• Rehabilitation interventions for children with severe malaria-related disability should consider patient– or caregiver–reported outcomes (components of disability).

Keywords:

• Severe malaria
• children
• disability
• caregivers
• Ethiopia
• interpretive description

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study included in this published article and its supplementary information file.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, which covered personal and material costs as part of a larger research project. However, the organization had no role in designing or conducting the study, including data collection, management, analysis, interpretation of the findings, and manuscript writing, review, and approval.