Deformity and disability index in patients with leprosy

Background Leprosy continues to be a serious challenge in most of the developing countries, contributing significantly to the physical and social disability of the patients afflicted. Objectives The aim of this study was to estimate the disability rate in patients of leprosy. , Patients and methods This study of deformities and disabilities in leprosy was conducted on 100 diagnosed cases of leprosy (70 males and 30 females), aged 9-70 years. Forty one percent of the cases (32% males and 9% females), were found to have various deformities and disabilities. The deformity and disability rate was higher in males than in females and it was positively associated with increasing age and duration of the disease. The disability rate was much higher in patients with multibacillary leprosy (42.5%) than in paucibacillary leprosy (23.7%), the highest being in lepromatous leprosy patients (68.5%). Results Hands were affected most frequently (32%) followed by feet (30%) and eyes (16%). The most commonly found deformities and disabilities were anesthesia of hands and feet, claw hands, resorption of toes and plantar ulcers. According to WHO disability grading, 59% of the patients had no disability, 10% had grade 1 and 31% had grade 2 disability. Conclusions Disability assessment is very important not only to evaluate the effectiveness of the leprosy control programs but also for the patients whose important worry is the stigmatizing deformities caused by the disease. The earlier detection of sensory loss might reduce these secondary deformities.