QUALITY OF LIFE, DEPRESSION AND PHYSICAL DISABILITY OF PATIENTS WITH LEPROSY

• Autor(a) principal: Gaudenci, Eliana Maria
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Nardelli, Giovana Gaudenci, Almeida Neto, Omar Pereira de, Malaquias, Bruna Stephanie Sousa, Carvalho, Bárbara Tallita, Pedrosa, Leila Aparecida Kauchakje
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Hansenologia Internationalis (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.saude.sp.gov.br/hansenologia/article/view/36175
• topic: Hanseníase; Qualidade de vida; Perfil de Saúde; Hansen’s Disease; Quality of Life; Health Profile

Leprosy is a chronic and slowly progressing infectious disease that affects the daily lives of carriers, causing suffering, abandonment, physical deformities and psychosocial problems. Objectives: To describe the clinical and socioeconomic profile, evaluate the quality of life (QOL), occurrence of depressive disorders, and the degree of disability and investigate correlations between these variables in people with leprosy.Methods: This is a cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive and analytical study, developed in a specialized health center of the city of Uberaba (MG). After receiving consent from the participants, interviews were conducted using questionnaires on clinical and socioeconomic aspects. Moreover, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to assess the degree of depression and the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used to assess QoL. Subsequently, the Physical Disability Rating (PDR) form was completed by reviewing patient records. The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee (no. 2173/2014). Descriptive and analytical statistical analysis were performed. Results: A total of 32 patients participated in the study, of whom 59.4% were male; Skin blemishes were present in 43.8% of the sample. Regarding the PDR, 37.5% patients were grade I; participants obtained low scores in the physical domain of the WHOQOL-BREF (11.54 ± 2.22). The BDI showed that 68.7% of patients had no depressive symptoms. Correlations between QoL and PDR were negative and significant (p <0.01) in the physical, psychological and social relationship domains. Conclusion: The results improve our understanding of this population. Leprosy affects both men and women with the QOL and the depression index being correlated with an older age, higher degree of physical disability, lower familial income, less education, and the productive capability of individuals. Patients must be evaluated routinely and humanely to diagnose the disease early and this requires an active search for cases using resources that must be prioritized by multidisciplinary health teams.