Economic and social data on the impact of human African trypanosomiasis in Eastern Zambia (2004-2014)

Previous and current patients of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) were recruited from areas of Zambia where the disease was known to occur. All patients who had been diagnosed with the disease from 2004 to 2014 in Lusaka, Eastern and Muchinga Provinces of Zambia were included in the study. Active cases of HAT were confirmed using polymerise chain reaction (PCR) and/or loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). Old cases of the disease were determined from hospital registers and / or the community. Where possible, hospital records of patients who were interviewed were retrieved to confirm the time period patients were undergoing treatment. Structured questionnaires were administered to patients themselves or their close relatives (care giver) to collect information on the economic and social impact of HAT in the communities or districts. Information on demographics, culture, and treatment seeking behaviour was also collected. Verbal consent was obtained prior to commencing all questionnaires. The questionnaires were developed and delivered by experienced researchers from the University of Zambia. Data from the questionnaires were collated into an Excel spreadsheet and exported as a comma separated value file. The names of the villages were removed from the final data set in order to anonymise the data.

Focus group discussions were conducted with health workers, people who have suffered from HAT and their relatives or friends. Focus group interviews were carried out by experienced researchers from the University of Zambia. Seven to ten people were included per discussion group, providing information on concepts, perceptions and ideas relating to the social consequences of HAT. A total of eight focus group discussions were conducted during the study in all the districts, two in Chama, one in Mambwe, two in Mpika and three in Rufunsa. Focus group discussion data were analysed using inductive approaches and thematic coding carried out by two independent researchers. All transcripts were anonymised and personal identifiers were removed to protect patients' individual data. Verbal consent was obtained prior to commencing all interviews. Focus group interviews were carried out by experienced researchers from the University of Zambia. The resulting transcripts entered into Microsoft Word and coded manually to enable us to analyse the data and pick out narratives within the content. The transcripts were stored at the University of Zambia as Word documents. To meet the requirements of the Environmental Information Data Centre the Microsoft Word document was anonymised and converted into Rich Text Format (rtf).

This dataset is included in the following collections

Dynamic drivers of disease in Africa (DDDAC)