Manifestations and strategies of coping with chagas disease that interfere in the quality of life of the individual: A systematic review

Abstract

We aimed to identify the manifestations and coping strategies of Chagas disease that influence the quality of life of the affected subject. This is a literature systematic review carried out in PubMed, SciELO and Lilacs databases, through which sixpapers were retrieved, in addition to six publications identified with the verification of the bibliographic list and four papers through manual search, which were independently evaluated by two reviewers. The variables addressed were set in the thematic axes manifestations of Chagas disease that interfere in the quality of life of the individual and coping strategies that influence the quality of life of patients affected by Chagas disease, subdivided into three realms, namely, physical, psychological and social. The results seen in all addressed realms evidenced a quality of life compromised by the disease, measures mostly limited to the patient’s physical realm and incipient records of studies in the area. We suggest further exploring the proposed theme, believing that knowledge of the patient living with the disease promotes the development of effective health intervention strategies.