Abstract
to analyze activity limitations in patients with leprosy and their association to cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms. this cross-sectional design study included sixty patients with multibacillary leprosy assisted at a reference center. Participants were divided according to their physical disability and submitted to instruments assessing daily activities (basic and instrumental), cognitive functions, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. The order of the instruments was random to avoid any interference of test sequence on the results. fifty-five percent of the participants presented physical disabilities. All patients were independent in performing basic activities but sixty-six percent presented difficulties in performing instrumental activities. Cognitive decline and neuropsychiatric symptoms were seen in advanced stages of the disease, but they were more associated to patient age than to leprosy. leprosy patients presented physical disabilities and difficulties in performing instrumental daily activities. Cognitive decline and neuropsychiatric symptoms were more associated to aging than to leprosy itself.
Highlights
Leprosy is an endemic and disabling condition which is stigmatized and generally connected to situations of poverty and to fragile health systems
Knowing that physical dysfunction is common in leprosy, the authors conducted this study seeking to assess the functional independence of patients in basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL), and to investigate if physical disabilities in leprosy impact others systems of the organism, such as the cognitive and the neuropsychiatric
Groups were homogeneous for basic and instrumental ADL. In spite of this similarity, table 2 showed that 66.7% of patients with multibacillary leprosy presented some difficulty in performing instrumental ADL
Summary
Leprosy is an endemic and disabling condition which is stigmatized and generally connected to situations of poverty and to fragile health systems. In spite of the disease been characterized by skin problems and sensorimotor disorders, studies point to a larger range of involvement[7,8,9]. Recent publications showed that patients with leprosy have limitations in performing activities of daily living (ADL), and a great susceptibility to physical disabilities and morbidities[10,11,12]. Knowing that physical dysfunction is common in leprosy, the authors conducted this study seeking to assess the functional independence of patients in basic and instrumental ADL, and to investigate if physical disabilities in leprosy impact others systems of the organism, such as the cognitive and the neuropsychiatric. The authors believe that this study should be of interest of the readers of the Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, as it increases the discussion in the field of care in leprosy
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