Leprosy and Physiotherapy: a necessary approach

Abstract

Introduction: New cases of leprosy occur due to a set of factors associated with the lack of knowledge about the disease, both by health professionals and patients, favoring late diagnosis, the development of physical and social disabilities, stigma and prejudice.
 Objective: To verify the knowledge of students completing the physiotherapy course on leprosy and professional practice in the care of patients with the disease.
 Methods: A qualitative exploratory descriptive study was conducted with 68 undergraduate students from physiotherapy courses from public and private universities (AU, UB, UC), in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. Data were collected through a questionnaire with ten open questions about knowledge, practical action, motivations, interests and teaching-learning process about leprosy. To organize and analyze the data, thecollective subject discourse technique was used. 
 Results: It was found that 60% of aU students, 63% of UB and 30.8% of UC have a general conception about the disease. 46.7% of aU students, 77.8% of UB and 80.9% of UC never had contact with leprosy patients. More than half of the students at the three universities said they were unaware of the physiotherapy approaches and practices in leprosy. Almost 100% of ub and UC students stated that the subject was not addressed during the course and therefore did not feel prepared to provide health education and to guide on how to prevent physical deficiencies resulting from leprosy. 73.3% of AU students, 96.3% of UB and 100% of UC recorded negative evaluations, qualifying the course as precarious, insufficient and weak in the leprosy approach.
 Conclusion: It is concluded that leprosy should be included in physiotherapy courses systematically, providing practical care activities, developing skills from prevention to rehabilitation, seeking greater motivation and identification of his work in this area.