Physical incapacity in Hansenian individuals of an old colony: A study of the diagnostics and post-discharge evolution

In this study the neural damage due to Hansen's Disease and the risk factors for physical incapacity in diagnosis and post-discharge has been investigated in an old colony of Hansenians. The study included a cohort of 63 Hanseniasis patients that were diagnosed, treated and monitored until after their discharge, from 1997 to 2011, in an endemic area with an old Hansenian colony located in Brazil. At the moment of diagnosis, it was observed that 73% of the Hansenians presented sensory damage and 69.8% presented some degree of incapacity, with worsening after medical discharge for both the variables. Male patients with sensory damage in their diagnosis, multibacillary, Virchowian, with Hansenic reactions and clinical signs positive to palpation presented a higher risk of developing physical incapacity on diagnosis. After discharge, the risk was greater for patients/ Leprosy affected person(s) with sensory damage and incapacity on diagnosis, multibacillary and with a treatment period equal to or longer than 5 years. These findings suggest that, even in old colony areas, more effective surveillance and intervention actions for the diagnosis are necessary beyond the monitoring of cases after the treatment, which even after discharge by cure showed a higher risk of worsening of their incapacities and the sensory damage.