@article{23661,
  keywords = {Treatment, Buruli ulcer},
  author = {Alferink M and Werf T and Sopoh G and Agossadou D and Barogui Y and Assouto F and Agossadou C and Stewart R and Stienstra Y and Ranchor A},
  title = {Perceptions on the effectiveness of treatment and the timeline of Buruli Ulcer influence pre-hospital delay reported by healthy individuals},
  abstract = {abstract = {<title>Author Summary</title><p>Delay in seeking treatment for Buruli ulcer (BU) is a major challenge in current BU control. Research to date shows that several factors relate to delay, including a lack of knowledge about BU and its treatment, beliefs in a supernatural cause of the disease, feelings of fear and worry regarding the treatment, fear of surgery, direct and indirect costs, social isolation as a consequence of unbearable costs to the patients' family, a lack of confidence in the treatment, and stigma. This study focused upon the relationship between Illness perceptions and pre-hospital delay by using the Illness Perceptions Model of Moss-Morris <italic>et al</italic> in a sample of healthy community members living in 3 endemic areas for Buruli ulcer in Benin. We found that a chronic timeline perspective on Buruli ulcer and a higher perceived effectiveness of the treatment were independently associated with pre-hospital delay. The available dominant treatment modality in endemic areas (surgery or antibiotics) did not influence pre-hospital delay, a finding contrary to the previous suggestion that a fear of surgery would be related to delay in presenting to the hospital. This study has identified several individual characteristics which can form the basis of future interventions.</p>},
},
  year = {2013},
  journal = {PLoS Negl Trop Dis},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {e2014},
  month = {01},
  publisher = {Public Library of Science},
  url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0002014},
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pntd.0002014},
  language = {eng},
}