Time for leprosy diagnosis and its relation to sociodemographic and clinical factors

Abstract

Objective: to investigate the factors associated with the time that elapsed between the identification of signs and symptoms related to leprosy and the diagnosis of cases seen in primary health care. Method: this is a cross-sectional and analytical study carried out in primary health care in a large city located in southern Brazil, with a sample of 245 individuals. The period analyzed was from 2009 to 2016, through notification forms and consultation of medical records. For analysis of the time for the diagnosis of leprosy (categorized as 0 to 5 years or 6 years or more), we performed analyzes of simple relative bivariate frequency and binary logistic regression measured by Odds Ratio (OR) and a confidence interval of 95 %. The statistical significance level was set at 5% for all analyzes. Results: the time for diagnosis varied from 1 month to 20 years, requiring, on average, 7.9 consultations and 4.6 years to obtain it. Having three or more hypotheses increased the chance of late diagnosis, compared to the opportune one (adjusted OR = 4.82; 95% CI: 2.13-10.89; P <0.001). Conclusion: the time elapsed for the diagnosis had an impact on the characteristics of leprosy, and the greater the number of hypotheses, the longer the time elapsed for the diagnosis and, consequently, the greater the chances of presenting DPD installed.