@article{9092,
  keywords = {Adolescent, Disability Evaluation, Educational Status, Female, Humans, leprosy, Male, Peripheral Nervous System Diseases, Prognosis, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index},
  author = {Moschioni C and Antunes CMF and Faria Grossi MA and Lambertucci JR},
  title = {Risk factors for physical disability at diagnosis of 19,283 new cases of leprosy.},
  abstract = {<p><b>INTRODUCTION: </b>The purpose of this study was to evaluate risk factors for physical disability at the moment of leprosy diagnosis.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>This is a retrospective, descriptive and exploratory investigation of 19,283 patients with leprosy, registered in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, between 2000 and 2005.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>The risk of Grade 2 disability was 16.5-fold higher in patients with lepromatous leprosy, and 12.8-fold higher in patients presenting the borderline form, compared to patients presenting indeterminate leprosy. The occurrence of more than one thickened nerve increased the odds of a patient developing Grade 2 disability, 8.4-fold. Age <15 years, multibacillary leprosy and no formal education presented 7.0, 5.7 and 5.6 odds of developing physical disability, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>These factors should be considered as strong prognostic indicators in the development of physical disability at diagnosis.</p>},
  year = {2010},
  journal = {Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical},
  volume = {43},
  pages = {19-22},
  month = {2010 Jan-Feb},
  issn = {1678-9849},
  doi = {10.1590/s0037-86822010000100005},
  language = {eng},
}