@article{133,
  keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Age Distribution, Bias, Brazil, Child, Child, Preschool, Endemic Diseases, Health Status Indicators, Humans, Infant, leprosy, Morbidity, Operations Research, Population Surveillance, Registries, Reproducibility of Results, Time Factors},
  author = {Andrade V and Militao de Albuquerque M D and Chagastelles Sabroza P},
  title = {The importance of operational factors for the interpretation of indicators in the Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease endemic in Brazil.},
  abstract = {<p>In Brazil, an increase has been recorded in recent years in the magnitude of detection coefficients for new cases of Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease, which is frequently interpreted as evidence of the endemic{\textquoteright}s expansion. The objective of this work is the determine the role of operational factors for interpreting the trend displayed by the morbidity coefficients for Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease from 1982 to 1995 in the country. We observed a strong correlation between the adjusted detection coefficients and the number of technicians trained (r = 0.80), a decrease in the proportion of new cases with disabilities at the time of diagnosis (r = 0.86), and a downward trend in tuberculoid forms (r = -0.70). Patient time on the active register is correlated negatively with MDT-WHO coverage (r = -0.95) and the percentage of patients discharged from treatment due to cure (r = -0.91). These results suggest that the increase in the potential for detection of new cases of Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease resulting from new strategies adopted by the program, i.e., mainly extensive training of health personnel, could be a coherent explanation for the increase in detection coefficients for new cases observed in Brazil in the last ten years.</p>},
  year = {1997},
  journal = {Acta leprologica},
  volume = {10},
  pages = {131-9},
  month = {1997},
  issn = {0001-5938},
  language = {eng},
}