Faculdade Metropolitana da Grande Fortaleza, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
Braz J Infect Dis. 2012 Sep-Oct;16(5):472-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bjid.2012.04.002. Epub 2012 Sep 12.
Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It is known for its great disfiguring capacity and is considered an extremely serious disease to public health worldwide. The state of Ceará ranks 13th in number of cases of leprosy in Brazil, and fourth in Northeastern region, with an average of 2,149 new cases diagnosed every year. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of leprosy patients regarding treatment, and to assess the level of treatment adherence and its possible barriers. The study was conducted in the reference center for dermatology, from September 2010 to October 2010, in Fortaleza, Ceará. The study data were collected by means of a structured interview, along with the Morisky-Green test, in order to assess treatment adherence and barriers to adherence. A total of 70 patients were interviewed, out of whom 66 were new cases. The majority of patients were between 42 and 50 years old, and 37 (52.9%) were male. Most patients were clinically classified as presenting multibacillary leprosy (80%), and 78.6% of them were from Fortaleza, Brazil. The Morisky-Green test indicated that 62.9% of patients presented a low level of adherence (p<0.005), despite claiming to aware of the disease risks. However, it was observed that 57.1% of the patients had no difficulty adhering to treatment, while 38.6% reported little difficulty. This study shows that despite the patients claiming to be familiar with leprosy and its treatment, the Morisky-Green test clearly demonstrated that they actually were not aware of the principles of therapy, which is evidenced by the low degree of treatment adherence.
麻风病是由麻风分枝杆菌引起的慢性传染病。它以极大的毁容能力而闻名，被认为是对全球公共卫生极为严重的疾病。巴西的塞阿拉州在病例数量上排名第 13 位，在东北地区排名第 4 位，每年平均诊断出 2149 例新病例。本研究旨在评估麻风病患者对治疗的了解程度，并评估治疗的依从程度及其可能的障碍。该研究于 2010 年 9 月至 10 月在塞阿拉州福塔莱萨的皮肤科参考中心进行。通过结构化访谈和 Morisky-Green 测试收集研究数据，以评估治疗依从性和治疗依从性的障碍。共对 70 名患者进行了访谈，其中 66 例为新病例。大多数患者年龄在 42 至 50 岁之间，其中 37 例（52.9%）为男性。大多数患者的临床分类为多菌型麻风（80%），其中 78.6%来自巴西福塔莱萨。Morisky-Green 测试表明，62.9%的患者治疗依从性较低（p<0.005），尽管他们声称了解疾病风险。然而，观察到 57.1%的患者在坚持治疗方面没有困难，而 38.6%的患者报告只有一点困难。本研究表明，尽管患者声称熟悉麻风病及其治疗方法，但 Morisky-Green 测试清楚地表明，他们实际上并不了解治疗原则，这从治疗依从性低的程度可以得到证明。
