Publication:

Investigating the birth prevalence of congenital club foot in both Paktya and Kapisa provinces of Afghanistan

Background Congenital talipes equinovarus (CTEV) or Clubfoot is one of the most common birth defects of the musculoskeletal system and affects 1 in every 1000 live births each year that cause mobility impairment. The purpose of this study is to investigating the birth prevalence of congenital club foot in both paktya and kapisa provinces of Afghanistan.

Methods This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in all live birth babies during one-year period in the Paktya regional hospital (paktya province) and Alberoni teaching hospital (kapisa province) of Afghanistan from September 2019 to September 2020. In this study, all ethical considerations were considered. The variables that were examined in our study included the following: type of delivery, maternal age, gender and form of laterality of the legs in the baby. The legs of newborn were photographed on the first day of birth and evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon. Finally, statistical data were analyzed by using SPSS softwareResults: In this study 35 cases of multiple births including 33 cases of twins and 2 cases of triplets were recorded and the rate of cesarean section was 5.96%. In this group data showed 99.65% of infants with no congenital talipes equinovarus or club foot abnormalities Subsequently, 0.35% or 36 people had congenital clubfoot which shows more incidence in male then female and unilateral form was more common.

Conclusions Based on our study result, we found that prevalence of clubfoot is about 3.5 per 1000 live birth similar to other low-income countries. Because of diagnosis and treatment of clubfoot in the early stage is more possible Therefore, timely recognition, diagnosis and treatment are significant and helpful to decrease medical expenses. Our result in this study support high prevalence of clubfoot anomaly in mentioned provinces of Afghanistan because of different genetic and environmental risk factors. To provide practical suggestions we need more epidemiologic study in all over the Afghanistan.