ISSN: 0976 3325 NATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE 2011 Volume 2 Issue 1 119 Original Article. EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DISABILITY IN INCIDENT LEPROSY PATIENTS AT SUPERVISORY URBAN LEPROSY UNIT OF NAGPUR CITY L B Chavan 1 , Prakash Patel 2 1 State Epidemiologist, Gujarat State AIDS Control Society, Ahmedabad 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research, Surat. Correspondence: Dr. Prakash B Patel, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research, Surat, Gujarat, India – 395010 Phone: +91 9426039663 Email: drpbpatel@gmail.com ABSTRACT Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium Leprae, affecting mainly peripheral nerves and skin. Disabilities and deformities are major concerns as it triggers social, economic and psychosocial problems of leprosy patients. In the study, 105 incident leprosy patients registered in a randomly selected Supervisory Urban Leprosy Unit during year 2004-05 were interviewed. Disability was graded as per WHO-2 point scale. There were 52 male and 53 female with median age of 26 years. The WHO grade -II disability was 12.38 % and it was significantly higher among manual workers and housewives (76.92%, P<0.05). Hands and feet disabilities were found in 38.10 % while nobody had eye related disability. Subjects with delayed diagnosis beyond 12 months had significantly higher grade-2 disabilities than diagnosed earlier (P<0.05). Disability rate was also higher in Multi-Bacillary leprosy patients (P<0.001). Ulcer was the most common type of grade-II deformity (61.54 %) which was significantly higher in females (P<0.05). Prevalence of disability was found higher in study area than national average. Awareness about Prevention Of Deformities (POD), early diagnosis (<12 months) and treatment are recommended to avert visible deformities and hence social stigma in leprosy patients. Key Words: Leprosy, Deformity, Epidemiology, Disability INTRODUCTION Leprosy is a chronic infectious granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium Leprae, affecting mainly peripheral nerves and skin. As a single disease entity, leprosy is one of the foremost causes of deformities and crippling. The deformities may result due to the disease process (e.g. loss of eye brows, other facial deformities), or those resulting from paralysis of some muscle due to damage to peripheral nerve trunk (e.g. claw-hand, foot-drop, lagophthalmos), or those resulting from injuries or infection to hands or feet (e.g. scar contractures of figures, mutilation of hands and feet, corneal ulceration). 1 The present MDT regimen used for treating leprosy was introduced in the early 1980’s, since than the prevalence has drops down significantly. In Nagpur, since introduction of M.D.T. in July 1988 – 89 during phased manner, the Prevalence Rate has reduced from 82 per 10,000 in 1988-89 to 2.8 per 10,000 populations on 1 st April 2003. The proportion of cases with visible deformity (grade- 2) was 1.8% in India and 1.53% in Maharashtra state. 2 However, social stigma remains a major obstacle to self-reporting and early treatment. Patients are compelled to hide their condition and avoid diagnosis, allowing a completely curable disease to worsen to the point of disfigurement. This study was conducted to