Dermatology Life Quality Index of Leprosy Patients in Thailand

Penvadee Pattanaprichakul; Saranjit Wimoolchart; Onjuta Chaiwanon; Kamonpan Lertrujiwanit; Pacharee Iamtharachai; Kanokvalai Kulthanan

Authors

Penvadee Pattanaprichakul DEPARTMENT OF DERMATOLOGY, FACULTY OF MEDICINE SIRIRAJ HOSPITAL, BANGKOK, THAILAND
Saranjit Wimoolchart RATCHAPRACHA SAMASAI INSTITUTE, DEPARTMENT OF DISEASE CONTROL, MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH, SAMUT PRAKAN, BANGKOK, THAILAND
Onjuta Chaiwanon DEPARTMENT OF DERMATOLOGY, FACULTY OF MEDICINE SIRIRAJ HOSPITAL, BANGKOK, THAILAND
Kamonpan Lertrujiwanit DEPARTMENT OF DERMATOLOGY, FACULTY OF MEDICINE SIRIRAJ HOSPITAL, BANGKOK, THAILAND
Pacharee Iamtharachai DEPARTMENT OF DERMATOLOGY, FACULTY OF MEDICINE SIRIRAJ HOSPITAL, BANGKOK, THAILAND
Kanokvalai Kulthanan DEPARTMENT OF DERMATOLOGY, FACULTY OF MEDICINE SIRIRAJ HOSPITAL, BANGKOK, THAILAND

Keywords:

Dermatology Life Quality Index, Leprosy

Abstract

Background: Leprosy is a chronic, gradually progressive infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. The manifestations involve mainly the skin and the peripheral nerves, which can progress to various deformities affecting patients’ quality of life including mental aspect, social stigma and many economic problems.

Objective: To evaluate the quality of life of patients with leprosy in Thailand and other personal contributing factors.

Materials and Methods: The leprosy patients who attended the Hansen’s clinic at Siriraj Hospital and Ratchapracha Samasai Institute between May and November 2012 were asked to complete the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaires in Thai version. The demographic data, type of the disease, area of lesions, associated symptoms, and the amount of families or friends who knew about the disease were recorded.

Results: Seventy-five patients voluntarily answered the questionnaires. Most of them were male (73.3%) and 65.3% of the cases worked as labor, with a mean (SD) age of 46.8 (15.5) years. Sixty of them (80%) were diagnosed as multibacillary (MB) leprosy. The mean (SD) of total DLQI scores were 7.29 (5.88) with a range of 0-29. From 10 questions, the highest mean scores were observed in the second question concerning the patients’ embarrassment with a mean (SD) of 1.27 (1.12). There was no significant relationship between age (p = 0.25), gender (p = 0.56) or employment status (p = 0.90) with total DLQI scores. However, from multiple logistic regression, patients with multibacillary (MB) leprosy had a significant higher DLQI scores than paucibacillary (PB) group with adjusted odds ratio of 13.83 (95% CI OR 1.65-115.58, p = 0.015). Moreover, the patients with facial lesion also scored significantly higher than those without facial involvement with adjusted odds ratio of 3.54 (95% CI OR 1.18-10.68, p = 0.025).

Conclusions: From DLQI score of leprosy patients in this study, it indicates the moderate impact of the disease on quality of life, especially in those with multibacillary group and those with lesions on the face.

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