02000nas a2200385   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653002100080653000900101653001000110653001800120653001100138653003400149653001900183653001100202653001200213653000900225653001600234653002600250653002100276653002600297653001700323100001300340700001100353700001200364700001100376245005500387300001000442490000700452050001400459520112700473022001401600       2000                            d  c2000 Mar10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAge Distribution10aAged10aChina10aEthnic Groups10aFemale10aHealth Services Accessibility10aHealth Surveys10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aRetrospective Studies10aSex Distribution10aSocioeconomic Factors10aTime Factors1 aChen X S1 aLi W Z1 aJiang C1 aYe G Y00aLeprosy in China: delay in the detection of cases.  a181-80 v94  aCHEN2000B3 a<p>In a national survey in China, 27,928 cases of leprosy detected by the health authorities between 1984 and 1998 were investigated. The delay between onset of symptoms (estimated from each case's recall) and confirmed diagnosis was < or = 2 years for 55.1% of the new patients but > 10 years for 7.0%, with a median value, overall, of 22.0 months. The median delay was longer: (1) for the multibacillary cases than the paucibacillary; (2) among farmers than among factory workers; (3) among some nationalities than among others (being longest among the Tu and shortest among the Wei); and (4) for some methods of case-detection than for others. Over the study period, the mean delay decreased with time. The delay was greatest in the areas where leprosy was endemic and/or where access to health services was poor. The later the cases were detected the more likely they were to show disability. Leprosy cases are still going undetected in China, although, over the last 14 years, case-finding has significantly improved. Age, occupation, nationality, leprosy type and detection method all appear to affect the delay.</p>  a0003-4983