SEASONAL ATAXIA IN WESTERN NIGERIA - EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF HEALTH-EDUCATION ON HOSPITAL PREVALENCE

Study objective - The study aimed to evaluate the impact of focused he alth education on the hospital prevalence of a seasonal ataxic syndrom e which occurs exclusively in people of low income after eating the la rvae of Anaphe venata Butler (Lepidoptera, Notodontidae). Design - Ret rospective impact evaluation study. Setting - Wesley Guild Hospital, I lesha, western Nigeria from where the syndrome was first described. Me thods - Hospital workers were informed of recent research findings on the aetiological role of Anaphe venata larvae consumption in the annua l epidemics of seasonal ataxia. They were encouraged to educate hospit al patients and their relatives and to ask them to pass this informati on to neighbours and other family members who are usually of the same social strata. The number of admissions for seasonal ataxia in the pre -intervention years (1990 and 1991) and in the intervention years (199 2 and 1993) were extracted from records. The teal number of casualty a dmissions between July and November of each year were also obtained. T he period prevalence rates of the disease in each year of the study pe riod were calculated and compared. Results - The pre-intervention prev alence rates were 1.27% and 1.59% for 1990 and 1991 respectively. The prevalence rates in the intervention years of 1992 and 1993 were 0.58% and 0.006%, representing a 65.5% reduction between 1991 and 1992, and a 99% reduction between 1992 and 1993. Conclusion - The health educat ion technique used is an inexpensive but effective way of providing th e intervention needed for the control of nutrition related diseases in the poor, largely illiterate segment of communities that are most vul nerable.