Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding Leprosy Among Patients Attending Dermatology Outpatient Department in a Tertiary Care Centre in Western Rajasthan, India.

Abstract

Despite achieving elimination of leprosy as a public health problem in 2005, India contributes to more than half the global burden of leprosy. Despite availability of accurate diagnostic techniques and effective therapy, such high numbers indicate inadequate and incorrect knowledge with widespread ignorance regarding leprosy. METHODOLOGYA cross-sectional study was carried out among 300 patients attending the Dermatology Outpatient Department of our institute, selected by systematic random sampling from January 2014 to March 2014. Information regarding knowledge, attitudes and practices towards leprosy was obtained using a structured questionnaire. RESULTAnalysis using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 22 (SPSS v22) indicated that only 50% of respondents had knowledge about the disease. However, they were ignorant about the prominent symptoms and signs of the disease. Mis-information about the causes varied from food, unclean environment to impure blood; 70% of those interviewed knew that the disease can be treated by the drugs, but were unaware of the details and duration of treatment. CONCLUSIONIn order to achieve the target of total eradication there is a need to intensify awareness about the symptoms of the disease, its treatment and prognosis so that early detection can be ensured.

Prevalence of Self-care Practices among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients and its Effect on Glycemic Control: A Cross-sectional Study in Secondary and Tertiary Health-care Centers in Lucknow

“…from Saudi Arabia. [ 24 , 25 ] It suggests that the patients with good knowledge about T2DM and are more adherent to their medication and SCPs which results in good glycemic control.…”