Bottene Iza Maria Corrêa, Reis Vitor Manoel Silva dos
Dermatology Program, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil.
An Bras Dermatol. 2012 May-Jun;87(3):408-11. doi: 10.1590/s0365-05962012000300009.
Leprosy, an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, can affect the skin and the peripheral nervous system and, depending on the level of involvement, it can lead to severe deformities. Leprosy is classified into two major groups: paucibacillary (up to five lesions) and multibacillary (more than five lesions). The deformities that appear during the progress of the disease can affect the quality of life.
To assess quality of life of patients with paucibacillary leprosy diagnosed and treated early in the outpatients' clinic.
The Dermatology Life Quality Index questionnaire and ShortForm36 were applied to 49 outpatients undergoing treatment at the Leprosy Multidisciplinary Group of the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculdade de Medicina of the Universidade de São Paulo.
The majority of the patients (63%) did not show impairment of the quality of life, according to the results obtained by the Dermatology Life Quality Index questionnaire. In the questionnaire Short Form-36, the scores assessed showed slight impairment of the quality of life.
On this study, we can conclude that this group of patients, with paucibacillary leprosy, did not show important impairment of the quality of life. Therefore we can conclude that the earlier the diagnosis and the treatment the lesser the influence on the quality of life.
麻风病是一种由麻风分枝杆菌引起的传染病，可影响皮肤和周围神经系统，根据受累程度，可导致严重畸形。麻风病主要分为两类：少菌型（皮损不超过5处）和多菌型（皮损超过5处）。疾病进展过程中出现的畸形会影响生活质量。
评估在门诊早期诊断和治疗的少菌型麻风病患者的生活质量。
对圣保罗大学医学院临床医院麻风病多学科小组正在接受治疗的49名门诊患者应用皮肤病生活质量指数问卷和简明健康状况调查量表。
根据皮肤病生活质量指数问卷的结果，大多数患者（63%）未表现出生活质量受损。在简明健康状况调查量表中，评估得分显示生活质量有轻微受损。
在本研究中，我们可以得出结论，这组少菌型麻风病患者未表现出生活质量的严重受损。因此我们可以得出结论，诊断和治疗越早，对生活质量的影响越小。
