Dermatology Life Quality Index and Social Stigma among Patients of Hansen's Disease

The chronic nature of Hansen's disease causes long term physical and social effects on the lives of patients and their families. Religious, cultural, and social beliefs about Hansen's transformation and disability lead to the stigma that has a major effect on patients' lives. The quality of life of a person affected with leprosy/Hansen's disease (PAL) declines rapidly. The present study aims to evaluate the Quality of Life (QOL) and measure various aspects of stigma in Hansen's disease. This study aims to evaluate the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Evaluation of Social status in patients of Hansen's disease (PAL) using the Stigma Assessment and Reduction of Impact (SARI) scale in patients presenting to the outpatient department. This Prospective, Observational study of 2 months duration involved PAL attending the Dermatology outdoor department. QOL and Social Status of PAL in society were assessed by the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Stigma Assessment and Reduction of Impact (SARI) Questionnaire, respectively. SARI scale is developed to measure various aspects of the stigma of PAL. Findings indicated that out of 35 PAL, 43% (15) had an extremely large impact on their quality of life followed by 37.3% (13) had a very large impact on their quality of life, followed by 14.1% (5) having a moderate impact and 5.6% (2) had no effect at all on their quality of life. According to SARI scale mean score for Internalized Stigma was 3.86±3.28 suggesting that Internalized stigma was more prominent, followed by Disclosure Stigma (mean score=2.49±3.10) which was next followed by Experienced stigma (mean score=1.26±2.63) and finally Anticipated Stigma (0.66±1.69). The total means score for all four domains was 8.26. According to the Pearson's correlation value, there was a negative correlation between the quality of life and impact on social stigma in our study. (R= –0.265). Based on the findings, it was concluded that stigma and associated psychosocial problems appear to be common in Hansen's disease that significantly affect the quality of life (QOL) of Hansen's disease patients.