Abstract

BUITRAGO, María Teresa; CASALLAS, Ana Lucía  and  PATRICIA ORTIZ, Sandra. Sociodemographic and clinical profile of patients with leprosy seen at the Hospital of San Salvador of Chiquinquira, Boyacá, during the period 1951-1999. Rev. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2003, vol.1, n.1, pp.13-44. ISSN 1692-7273.

The study objective was to describe the sociodemographic and clinic profile of Hansen disease cases attended at the Dermatologic outpatient’s department of San Salvador Hospital from 1951 to 1999 on the purpose of drawing up recommendations to eliminate Leprosy as a public health problem in the country. A longitudinal descriptive study reviewed a total amount of 302 clinic dossiers covering 43 years of the programme. It was established that the patients’ profile registered men, 39 average age, married, most of them from rural areas of Boyacá, working in agricultural tasks. The average time between the symptoms and the diagnostic was 5.4 years. 98.2% of the patients showed prymary leprosy symptoms, most of them, neurologic and dermatologic. Multibacilar forms predominated in 15 years old patients with a diagnosis by baciloscopy and in the paucibacilar ones, by clinics. Monotherapy was the most used scheme, taken regularly. Men showed more disability in hands, -both at the beginning and at the end of the treatment-, than the women. (Ji: 14.23 p: 0.0000). The average time between the diagnostic and the treatment beginning was 9 days, while the total treatment average time spent 12.7 years. In 40% of the cases the denouement was unknown, 26.8% were reported as healed and 19.5% died. A young peasant with lepratosomic leprosy treated with monotherapy in long periods and higher disability in hands is the profile of patients in concordance with the sickness’ behavior throughout the world.

Keywords : leprosy; discapacity; sociodemographic profile.

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