Factors associated with impairment in new leprosy patients: the AMFES cohort

摘要

Data on the importance of the delay between onset of symptoms and registration as a risk factor for impairment are sparse. This study investigates the quantitative relationship between this delay, other risk fact ors and the impairment status in new leprosy patients. It reports on 592 new leprosy patients enrolled in 1988- 1992 in the prospective ALERT MDT Field Evaluation Study in central Ethiopia (AMFES). The influence of the risk factors sex, age, delay, PB/MB classification in relation to BI, and prior dapsone treatment on the impairment status at intake is analysed.