03442nas a2200433   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653002800080653003300108653003000141653002100171653002600192653001100218653001100229653002300240653001200263653000900275653001000284653002300294653001600317653002600333653003100359100001200390700002000402700001600422700002000438700001800458700001800476700001500494245015800509856006100667300001000728490000700738050001600745520223300761022001402994       2004                            d  c2004 Jun10aAdolescent10aAdult10aCross-Sectional Studies10aDrug Administration Schedule10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aEndemic Diseases10aEpidemiologic Studies10aFemale10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aMale10aNepal10aPatient Compliance10aSex Factors10aSocioeconomic Factors10aSurveys and Questionnaires1 aKumar R1 aSinghasivanon P1 aSherchand J1 aMahaisavariya P1 aKaewkungwal J1 aPeerapakorn S1 aMahotarn K00aGender differences in epidemiological factors associated with treatment completion status of leprosy patients in the most hyperendemic district of Nepal.  uhttp://www.tm.mahidol.ac.th/seameo/2004_35_2/16-3306.pdf  a334-90 v35  aKUMAR 2004b3 a<p>The introduction of multidrug therapy (MDT), recommended by WHO, has been a major advance in the treatment of leprosy because of its relatively short treatment course and low rate of relapse. Although leprosy treatment is provided to both sexes equally, in most parts of the world significant differences have been found in treatment status. The main objective of the study was to investigate gender differences in epidemiological factors associated with treatment status of leprosy patients. An analytic cross-sectional study was carried out in the most hyperendemic Dhanusa District, Nepal. Stratified random sampling was applied for selection of the patients. Statistical analysis of the differences in treatment status, between males and females, and among other epidemiological factors of interest was carried out using multiple logistic regression. Chi-square/Fisher's exact test were also used to assess significant differences in values between males and females. There were 580 leprosy patients (385 male and 195 female) aged >15 years registered for MDT between April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002 in the 16 main health centers of the district. Of the 580 patients, a total of 273 (183 male and 90 female) were included in the study, to collect data on clinical type of leprosy, patterns of physical deformity/disability, site of skin lesions, and socio-demographic information. There were 183 male (68.3% on MB-MDT) and 90 female (61.1% MB-MDT) leprosy patients. We found that 79.2% of male patients completed treatment, while 34.4% female patients did not complete within the given time frame. Significant gender differences among leprosy patients were found in the distribution of disability grades and treatment completion status. However, there was no significant gender difference in the distribution of leprosy types and skin lesion sites. The study also found significant associations between treatment completion status and gender (adjusted OR 2.05, 95% CI: 1.07-3.94), educational status (adjusted OR 2.37, 95% CI: 1.12-4.99), disability grade I (adjusted OR 3.14, 95% CI: 1.23-8.04), and disability grade 0 (adjusted OR 2.92, 95% CI: 1.14-7.47) after adjustment for all other leprosy/demographic factors.</p>  a0125-1562