02808nas a2200457   4500000000100000008004100001260001600042653001500058653001000073653001600083653000900099653002200108653001000130653002100140653001300161653001100174653002700185653002000212653002100232653001100253653001200264653001900276653000900295653001600304653002600320653001600346653002200362653001600384100001200400700002400412700001200436700001200448700001700460700001700477245014600494856006500640300000700705490000700712520161700719022001402336       2012                            d  c2012 Oct 0410aAdolescent10aAdult10aAge Factors10aAged10aAged, 80 and over10aChild10aChild, Preschool10aEthiopia10aFemale10aHealthcare Disparities10aHospitalization10aHospitals, Rural10aHumans10aleprosy10aLong-Term Care10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aMultivariate Analysis10aSex Factors10aTreatment Outcome10aYoung Adult1 aRamos J1 aMartínez-Martín M1 aReyes F1 aLemma D1 aBelinchón I1 aGutiérrez F00aGender differential on characteristics and outcome of leprosy patients admitted to a long-term care rural hospital in South-Eastern Ethiopia.  uhttp://www.equityhealthj.com/content/pdf/1475-9276-11-56.pdf  a560 v113 a<p><b>INTRODUCTION: </b>In previous studies, women are less aware of causation and symptoms of leprosy and have less access to health care coverage than men, thus contributing to their delay in seeking for treatment. We assess the gender differences in leprosy cases admitted to a rural referral hospital in Ethiopia for 7 and a half years.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>Retrospective data of the leprosy patients admitted to referral hospital were collected using leprosy admission registry books from September 2002 to January 2010. Variables were entered in an Excel 97 database.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>During the period of study, 839 patients with leprosy were admitted; 541 (64.5%) were male, and 298 (35.6%) female. Fifteen per cent of female patients, and 7.3% of male patients were paucibacillary leprosy cases while 84.8% of female patients and 92.7% of males were multibacillary leprosy cases (p<0.001). Female leprosy patients were younger than male ones (median: 36 versus 44 years) (p<0.001). In the multivariate analysis, age (odds ratio [OR]: 0.97; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.96-0.98; p<0.001), admission for cardiovascular diseases (OR: 7.6, 95% CI: 1.9-29.3; p=0.004), admission for gastroenteritis (OR: 14.0; 95% CI: 1.7-117; p=0.02), admission from out patients clinic (OR: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.1-4.01; p=0.02), and mortality as final outcome (OR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.2-8.0; p=0.02) were independently associated with female gender.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>Female patients with leprosy admitted to hospital were younger, had a different profile of admission and a higher mortality rate than male ones.</p>  a1475-9276