02254nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653001500059653001000074653000900084653001000093653001100103653001100114653001200125653001600137653002600153653001600179653002600195653001100221653001900232100001400251700001300265700001300278700001300291700001500304245003300319300001000352490000700362050001700369520150400386022001401890       1993                            d  c1993 Jan-Mar10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aChild10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aMiddle Aged10aRetrospective Studies10aSex Factors10aSocioeconomic Factors10aTurkey10aWomen's Health1 aCakiner T1 aYuksel A1 aSoydan M1 aSaylan T1 aBahçeci E00aWomen and leprosy in Turkey.  a59-670 v65  aCAKINER 19933 a<p>Women in Turkey have many social, cultural and economical problems. Women with leprosy have problems in common with other women as well as those related to physical and social consequences of leprosy. There are 2,414 patients with leprosy in Turkey, registered to Istanbul Leprosy Hospital and 829 of them are females. The mean age and duration of disease of our female leprosy patients are high. Most women with leprosy were born in eastern part of Turkey where prevalence of leprosy is higher and most have moved to western regions. The proportion of women who have some kind of social security is very low. Their economic status is also not good and 79% of patients had stigma about their disease. Three fourths of these cases have been hospitalized some time, for different reasons. Most of them (97.2%) have inactive disease at present. Disability degrees of patients are high. Patients with disability degrees over one constitute 54% of total for eyes, 55% for hands and 51% for feet. High percentage of multibacillary form and long duration of disease, delayed diagnosis, insufficient self-care of patients due to low socio-economic and cultural status and failure of health personnel to control patients periodically may be among the reasons for such high ratios of moderate and severe disabilities. In the light of the data obtained in our study, some measures to alleviate the problems of patients resulting from their socio-economic, cultural and social status have been suggested.</p>  a0254-9395