ArticleEpilepsy & behavior : E&B2021
The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on frail health systems of low- and middle-income countries: The case of epilepsy in the rural areas of the Bolivian Chaco.
Article in Epilepsy & behavior : E&B, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Community-Level Experiences, Understandings, and Responses to COVID-19 in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of Qualitative and Ethnographic Studies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Exploring factors affecting access to non-communicable disease medicines in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.BMJ public health · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has put some health systems under pressure, especially in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed at evaluating the impact of COVID-19 emergency on the management of people with epilepsy (PWE) living in the rural communities of the Gran Chaco area of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe selected a sample of PWE living in the rural communities of the Bolivian Chaco. A standardized questionnaire was developed, consisting of six questions addressing drug availability, drug discontinuation, personnel responsible for drug retrieval during the lockdown, and the presence of seizures in the two months preceding the interview. Questionnaires were administered by community health workers of the rural health centers in September 2020.
resultsSeventy PWE (38 men, 54.3%; mean age 26.9 ± 16.7) were interviewed. During the lockdown the large majority of them (n = 51, 73.9%) reported an irregular medication intake mainly due to the lack of antiseizure medications in the local health posts, leading to an increase in seizure frequency.
conclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has unmasked the frailty of the Bolivian health system, especially for the management of chronic diseases such as epilepsy in the rural communities.
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Registered trials
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