Abstract
Background: India contributes to more than 60% of leprosy case burden in the world.
Objective: To study the clinical profile of leprosy cases who attended the Dermatology outpatient department of a tertiary care unit during a period of one year, to document the diagnostic delay in individual case and to determine the role of rehabilitation age, sex and initial symptom as risk factors for diagnostic delay by analysing data from previous case records.
Methods: Retrospective study
Sample-Size-53 patients with diagnosed leprosey
Results: Among the 53 leprosy patients male to female ratio was 1.8:1. A diagnostic delay of more than one year was noted in 18 patients (34%). Age, sex and initial symptom were not found to be statistically significant risk factors for diagnostic delay.
Conclusion: Diagnostic delay of more than one year in one third of cases highlights the need to increase the efficacy of existing system to detect disease early.
Limitations: Small sample size and retrospective study.
Keywords: Leprosy, Diagnostic delay, Retrospective study.
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Corresponding Author
Dr Swapna Dominic
Assistant Professor, Dept of Dermatology, Govt. Medical College Kozhikode, Kerala, India
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Mob; +919447459101
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v6i5.76
