MAGNITUDE OF DISABILITY AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG PATIENTS IN BORU MEDA HOSPITAL, SOUTH WOLLO ZONE, AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA.

Background: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease affecting the skin and peripheral nerves. Early diagnosis and full course treatment are critical for preventing lifelong neuropathy and disability to minimize the occurrence of disability.
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the magnitude of disability and associated factors among leprosy patients after treatment in Boru Meda Hospital.
Methods: Facility based cross sectional study was conducted among 128 leprosy patients registered at Boru Meda Hospital from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2012. Data was collected from charts, entered into a computer, cleaned, edited using EPI Info Version 3.53 for windows and analyzed by SPSS.
Results: Five patients (4%) had Grade 2 disability at discharge; the remaining 123 (96%) were discharged with either disability grading 0 or disability grading 1, which are considered to be normal disability grading. Males and rural people were more affected by the diseases: 72% and 92% respectively. Sixty percent of disability occurred due to type one reaction. The mean age of patients and treatment duration were 39.3 years and 60 days respectively. Among the factors type of reaction was significantly associated with disability grading (P = 0.02).
Conclusion and Recommendation: Rural people and males are more affected by leprosy and the prevalence of disability is decreasing. This findings suggest that we need to work on awareness creation on rural people and patients with leprosy to see healthcare providers as early as possible.