title: Patient profile and treatment satisfaction of Brazilian leprosy patients in a clinical trial of uniform six-month multidrug therapy (U-MDT/CT-BR).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the profile of patients who participated in the Randomised Clinical Trial for Uniform Multidrug Therapy for Leprosy Patients in Brazil (U-MDT/CT-BR) and determine the level of satisfaction with a uniform therapy regimen, especially among paucibacillary patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a descriptive cross-sectional epidemiologic study nested in the wider U-MDT/CT-BR. The study was conducted using a convenience sample composed of patients from the Dona Libânia Dermatology Centre in Fortaleza, Ceará and from the Alfredo da Matta Foundation in Manaus, Amazonas in Brazil. The absolute and relative frequencies of categorical variables and the median age were calculated. Hypothesis testing was done using the Chi-squared and Mann-Whitney tests with a 0.05 level of significance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 859 patients included in the clinical trial, 342 were interviewed. The majority of patients were male (58.2%) and multibacillary (78.3%) with a median age of 42 (7-65) years. Most of the interviewees had not completed primary education (48.0%), earned an income below three times the minimum wage (53.8%), were non-smokers (85.1%), did not regularly consume alcohol (88.3%), had not experienced any leprosy-related discrimination (69.2%) and showed a basic knowledge of the disease. With regards to paucibacillary patients, 87.8% and 90.9% of the PB U-MDT and PB R-MDT groups, respectively, indicated that they had not thought of defaulting treatment at any time. On a satisfaction scale of 1-5 (with five as the highest score), 92.7% of PB U-MDT and 100.0% of PB R-MDT patients gave a mark between three and five.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data suggest that the introduction of clofazimine into the therapeutic regimen did not diminish the level of treatment satisfaction among PB patients.
authors: Isis Polianna Silva
authors: IP
authors: Ferreira
authors: Samira
authors: S
authors: Buhrer-Sékula
authors: Maria Regina Fernandes
authors: MR
authors: De Oliveira
authors: Heitor de Sá
authors: Hde S
authors: Gonçalves
authors: Maria Araci de Andrade
authors: MA
authors: Pontes
authors: Maria Lúcia Fernandes
authors: ML
authors: Penna
authors: Rossilene
authors: R
authors: Cruz
authors: Gerson Oliveira
authors: GO
authors: Penna
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007917:Leprostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007918:Leprosy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007917:Leprostatic Agents