Knowledge and self-care practice of leprosy patients at ALERT Hospital,
Ethiopia
Authors: Girma Lisanawork , Bobosha Kidist , Hailu Tsegaye , Negera Edessa 
Published: December 2021

Background

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease of public health importance and
one of the leading causes of permanent physical disability. The integration
of leprosy service to the general health system in Ethiopia made leprosy
patients to be seen by non-leprosy specialists which could lead to
misdiagnosis and delay in treatment. In addition to the multi-drug
treatment, patient self - care practice is crucial for the successful
treatment of the disease. This study was aimed to assess the knowledge and
self-care practices of leprosy patients and associated factors at ALERT
leprosy referral Hospital in Ethiopia.

Method

A cross-sectional study was conducted ALERT leprosy referral Hospital,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A total of 424 leprosy patients were interviewed
using pre-tested structured questionnaires. The questionnaires included core
points such as socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of leprosy and
self-care practices. Bloom’s cut off point was used to describe the
knowledge and self-care practice of the respondents and statistical
significance was assessed at 95% confidence interval with 5% of level of
significance.

Result

The knowledge score of the respondents was poor for 276 (65.1%) and good
for 148 (34.9%). The level of knowledge was significantly varied within age
groups (P= 000), sex (P=000), marital status (p=0.003), educational status
(p=000) and income (p-000). More than three-fourth (77.4%) of interviewed
patients had poor self-care practice and only less than a quarter (22.6%) of
patients had good self-care practice score (P=000). Age (p=0.002), Previous
disability due to leprosy (P=000), Knowledge of leprosy (p=0.038) and income
(P=0.028) significantly associated with poor self-care practice. On the
other hand, educational status, sex, marital status and health education did
not associated with leprosy self-care practice.

Conclusion

Although, leprosy treatment, disability prevention and rehabilitation
program run in the country under general public health care service for
decades, poor leprosy self-care practice and poor leprosy knowledge had been
confirmed in this study. Therefore, the leprosy service program should
re-visit its strategy and mode of delivery to improve the leprosy knowledge
and leprosy self-care practices of patients.

Author summary

Leprosy is an infectious bacterial disease. It is a curable disease if
treated early before disability occurs with the correct regimen. However,
treatment cannot reverse disability once occurred. in addition to
chemotherapeutic treatment, lack of social and psychological treatment may
expose patients to disability as they may not adhere to treatment. To
prevent disability it is vital to empower leprosy patients through promoting
self-confidence, providing knowledge and self-care skills. In the present
study, we investigated the knowledge and self-care practice of 424 leprosy
patients at ALERT hospital through face-to face guided interview. It was
found that majority of patients had poor knowledge about leprosy. Some
factors such as sex, income status, age and educational status of the
patient significantly affected the level of leprosy knowledge. Similarly, it
was found that 77% of patients had poor self-care practice which
significantly varied with income status, knowledge of leprosy, age and
having previous disability. Therefore, it is very important to improve the
leprosy knowledge and self-care skills of patients. This can be achieved
through dealing with issues such as the physical, emotional, intellectual
and social aspects of the patients in addition to the chemotherapeutic
treatment.