2022, Volume 15, Issue 2, pp 278 – 283

Romanian patients’ access to clubfoot treatment services

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Authors and Affiliations

* Corresponding Author: Bianca Oana Duran, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. E-mail: bianca.duran@publichealth.ro

Abstract

The number of clubfoot new cases in Romania is on the rise. According to orthopedic research, the Ponseti method is the elective treatment for clubfeet. This paper aims to provide an overview of the current facilitators and barriers in accessing clubfoot treatment services in Romania and to assess the impact of care-related factors on patients’ well-being. Our research shows that nationally, few orthopedic surgeons are using the Ponseti method and most of them are concentrated only in Cluj-Napoca. Moreover, gynecologists, neonatologists, and family physicians were not informed about the initial diagnosis and the current treatment of clubfoot. Primary medical care was significantly postponed in some cases. Moreover, no clubfoot organizations were mentioned by the parents included in the study, and psychological support was provided neither for the parents nor for the children. Based on the results of our study, we conclude that more efforts need to be done for the diagnosis and treatment of children with clubfeet. These include actions which are focused on raising awareness around this abnormality and more well-developed treatment guidelines.

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About this article

PMC ID: 8999101
PubMed ID: 
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2021-0334

Article Publishing Date (print): 2 2022
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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