Psychosocioprofessional and familial becoming of formers Buruli ulcer patients in Benin.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the long-term psychosocial, professional and family repercussions of BU on former patients.

METHOD: Cross-sectional descriptive and analytic study on 244 formers patients seen at the Screening and Treatment BU Center of Allada from 2005 to 2009 and followed at home from January to July 2010.

RESULTS: On the psychosocial level, 50.8% cured patients attributed the disease to witchcraft (mostly adults and teenagers); 90. 2% did not feel guilty (mostly children), 48.9% of the adults felt diminished, 31.7% are depressed and 19.5% anxious. On professional level, 81.0% of workers had gotten back to work, in the same job for 75.0% of them while 25.0% had changed jobs; 90.1% of children went back school, 29.4% followed a normal schooling but 70% did experience academic delay. On family level, 2.5% of patients were rejected by their families.

CONCLUSION: After returning home, former UB patients suffered of severe psychosocioprofessional and familial repercussions that suggested an organization of their home monitoring.