International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Epidemiological Profile of Patients with Leprosy in Northeast of Brazil: An Analysis from 2010 to 2022
By MÔNICA SANY LEITE PEREIRA, Werona de Oliveira Barbosa Fernandes, Laércio da Silva Paiva and 2 others.
Abstract
Leprosy remains a public health problem in Brazil, which ranks second worldwide in the number of new cases, and the Northeast is the region with the highest endemicity.
Objective
This study aims to describe the epidemiological profile of patients diagnosed with leprosy in the state of Paraíba and to identify the factors independently associated with treatment abandonment.
Methods
This is a retrospective study of individual records from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN/DATASUS) for Paraíba, 2010–2022. Prevalence ratios (PRs) with 95% confidence intervals were estimated by Poisson regression with robust variance, crude and adjusted for sex, WHO classification, degree of physical disability at diagnosis and mode of entry.