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The contribution of pediatric surgery to poverty trajectories in Somaliland.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Smith, ER; Concepcion, TL; Mohamed, M; Dahir, S; Ismail, EA; Rice, HE; Krishna, A; Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery
Published in: PLoS One
2019

BACKGROUND: The provision of health care in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) is recognized as a significant contributor to economic growth and also impacts individual families at a microeconomic level. The primary goal of our study was to examine the relationship between surgical conditions in children and the poverty trajectories of either falling into or coming out of poverty of families across Somaliland. METHODS: This work used the Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical Need (SOSAS) tool, a validated household, cross-sectional survey designed to determine the burden of surgical conditions within a community. We collected information on household demographic characteristics, including financial information, and surgical condition history on children younger than 16 years of age. To assess poverty trajectories over time, we measured household assets using the Stages of Progress framework. RESULTS: We found there were substantial fluxes in poverty across Somaliland over the study period. We confirmed our study hypothesis and found that the presence of a surgical condition in a child itself, regardless of whether surgical care was provided, either reduced the chances of moving out of poverty or increased the chances of moving towards poverty. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the presence of a surgical condition in a child is a strong singular predictor of poverty descent rather than upward mobility, suggesting that this stressor can limit the capacity of a family to improve its economic status. Our findings further support many existing macroeconomic and microeconomic analyses that surgical care in LMICs offers financial risk protection against impoverishment.

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Published In

PLoS One

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

2019

Volume

14

Issue

7

Start / End Page

e0219974

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Surgical Procedures, Operative
  • Somalia
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Poverty
  • Male
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant
  • Humans
  • General Science & Technology
 

Citation

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Smith, E. R., Concepcion, T. L., Mohamed, M., Dahir, S., Ismail, E. A., Rice, H. E., … Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery. (2019). The contribution of pediatric surgery to poverty trajectories in Somaliland. PLoS One, 14(7), e0219974. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219974
Smith, Emily R., Tessa L. Concepcion, Mubarak Mohamed, Shugri Dahir, Edna Adan Ismail, Henry E. Rice, Anirudh Krishna, and Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery. “The contribution of pediatric surgery to poverty trajectories in Somaliland.PLoS One 14, no. 7 (2019): e0219974. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219974.
Smith ER, Concepcion TL, Mohamed M, Dahir S, Ismail EA, Rice HE, et al. The contribution of pediatric surgery to poverty trajectories in Somaliland. PLoS One. 2019;14(7):e0219974.
Smith, Emily R., et al. “The contribution of pediatric surgery to poverty trajectories in Somaliland.PLoS One, vol. 14, no. 7, 2019, p. e0219974. Pubmed, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0219974.
Smith ER, Concepcion TL, Mohamed M, Dahir S, Ismail EA, Rice HE, Krishna A, Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery. The contribution of pediatric surgery to poverty trajectories in Somaliland. PLoS One. 2019;14(7):e0219974.

Published In

PLoS One

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

2019

Volume

14

Issue

7

Start / End Page

e0219974

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Surgical Procedures, Operative
  • Somalia
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Poverty
  • Male
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant
  • Humans
  • General Science & Technology