Das Nirmalya K, De Abhishek, Naskar Biswanath, Sil Amrita, Das Sudip, Sarda Aarti, Chatterjee Gobinda
Department of Dermatology, IPGMER, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Department of Dermatology, Calcutta National Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Indian J Dermatol. 2020 Jan-Feb;65(1):42-46. doi: 10.4103/ijd.IJD_729_18.
Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by affecting the skin, peripheral nervous system, and other tissues. The disease is associated with social stigma, and the patients sometimes suffer social discrimination because it often leads to visible physical deformities. Hence, leprosy may have severe impact on the quality of life (QoL) of patients.
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of leprosy on the QoL of the affected patients and to find out whether there is some association with certain demographic and clinical factors.
The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire was used to assess the QoL of 114 patients with leprosy who attended dermatology outpatient department of a tertiary care center of eastern India. This was a cross-sectional study.
Among a total of 114 patients, leprosy had no impact on the QoL of 15 (13.16%) patients. There was a mild impact in 23 (20.18%) of the patients. There was moderate impact in 37 (32.46%) of the patients. The disease had severe impact in the QoL of 39 (34.21%) patients. None of the patients had a very severe impact. Several of the clinical aspects such as nerve involvement, systemic features, deformity, disability grade, and type of leprosy have significant impact on QoL. Among the demographic factors, gender had some effects on QoL.
Leprosy adversely affects the QoL of those affected. Although it is considered a social disease, at least in our part of the country, demographics have minimal effect on the QoL. Rather, important clinical aspects such as systemic features, nerve involvement, reaction, deformity, and disability have profound impact on the QoL of the patients.
麻风病是一种由[病原体名称缺失]引起的慢性传染病，会影响皮肤、周围神经系统和其他组织。该疾病与社会耻辱感相关，患者有时会遭受社会歧视，因为它常常导致明显的身体畸形。因此，麻风病可能对患者的生活质量（QoL）产生严重影响。
本研究的目的是评估麻风病对受影响患者生活质量的影响，并找出是否与某些人口统计学和临床因素存在关联。
使用皮肤病生活质量指数（DLQI）问卷对印度东部一家三级护理中心皮肤科门诊的114例麻风病患者的生活质量进行评估。这是一项横断面研究。
在总共114例患者中，麻风病对15例（13.16%）患者的生活质量没有影响。23例（20.18%）患者受到轻度影响。37例（32.46%）患者受到中度影响。该疾病对39例（34.21%）患者的生活质量产生严重影响。没有患者受到非常严重的影响。神经受累、全身症状、畸形、残疾等级和麻风病类型等几个临床方面对生活质量有显著影响。在人口统计学因素中，性别对生活质量有一定影响。
麻风病对患者的生活质量有不利影响。尽管它被认为是一种社会疾病，但至少在我国我们所在的地区，人口统计学对生活质量的影响最小。相反，全身症状、神经受累、反应、畸形和残疾等重要临床方面对患者的生活质量有深远影响。
