Exploring Clubfoot Care in Tanzania: A Review of Literature
Gasper Shirima*, Henry Ngogo and Frank Arabi
Comprehensive Community-Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania
*Corresponding Author: Gasper Shirima, Comprehensive Community-Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania.
Received:
September 10, 2025; Published: October 26, 2025
Abstract
Introduction: Clubfoot is a congenital musculoskeletal disorder of the feet that causes abnormal rotation of the feet due to abnormal development of the muscles and tendons. Clubfoot has an estimated prevalence of 1 case in 1,000 live births.
Objective: This paper aimed to explore the literature of clubfoot care in Tanzania and identify gaps for further research.
Methodology: We searched through PubMed and Google Scholar using terms such as “Clubfoot”, “Congenital Talipes Equinovarus”, and “Tanzania” using Boolean operators AND and OR. We did not perform any quality assessment on the papers found.
Results: Four papers exploring clubfoot care in Tanzania were found, and we came up with four themes during the review, which are the burden of clubfoot, management of clubfoot, continuous professional education and gender dynamics in clubfoot management. There are no population-based epidemiological data on the burden of clubfoot in Tanzania; however, the hospital-based studies indicate about 4.8% prevalence of neglected clubfoot. The first-line treatment of clubfoot in Tanzania is the PONSETI method, although some cases are managed by surgery. Supportive supervision and eLearning methods were reported as effective by Clinicians in improving their knowledge and clinical skills.
Conclusion: This review shows that PONSETI is the first line of treatment for clubfoot in Tanzania, as recommended. A birth defect registry should be established to obtain the true prevalence of birth defects, such as clubfoot in Tanzania. More research is needed to study the socio-economic factors affecting adherence to treatment among patients with Clubfoot and implement interventions to ensure patients finish all phases of clubfoot treatment for the best outcome.
Keywords:Clubfoot; PONSETI; Children; Patients
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