title: Comparative profile of new leprosy cases coming to a referral institute in pre- and post-integration periods.
abstract: This article presents findings from a retrospective analysis of 3031 new leprosy cases attending the Out-patient Department of the Regional Leprosy Training and Research Institute, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, during the period January 2000-December 2005. The analysis was carried out in order to compare the profiles of new leprosy cases between pre- and post-integration periods. The cut-off date, in order to distinguish between the two groups, was determined as 31st December 2002. A comparison was made between the two groups on identified host- and disease-related variables and its significance was tested using suitable statistical tests. The results showed that there was more than 50% increase in the number of new leprosy cases coming to the OPD of the RLTRI during the post-integration period. The mean age at registration showed an increase of 0.9 years, while the proportion of child and female cases showed a decrease of 7.7% and 4.3% respectively during the same period. Significant decline was also recorded in the proportion of grade II deformity cases (11.8%) and cases with type I lepra reaction (11.4%) during the post-integration period. The study emphasizes the need for developing an effective referral mechanism and proper screening of cases at the PHC level for better utilization of referral institutions in a need-based manner.
authors.affiliation: Regional Leprosy Training and Research Institute, Lalpur, Raipur 492 015, Chhattisgarh, India. draparnapandey@hotmail.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rathod
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007918:Leprosy / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution