Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep 30:62:e72.
doi: 10.1590/S1678-9946202062072. eCollection 2020.

Impact of health interventions on epidemiological and operational leprosy indicators in a hyperendemic municipality of Brazil

Cristiano Soares da Silva  1 , Jaison Antônio Barreto  2 , Vivian Iida Avelino-Silva  3 , Ana Luiza Bierrenbach  1
Affiliations

Impact of health interventions on epidemiological and operational leprosy indicators in a hyperendemic municipality of Brazil

Cristiano Soares da Silva et al. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. .

Abstract

The study aimed to analyze the impact of health interventions carried out in the city of Palmas, Brazil, on the epidemiological and operational indicators of leprosy between 2007 and 2017. The intervention consisted of training healthcare personnel on the diagnosis and follow-up of patients and organizing the referral of patients to health units. Estimates of the impact were calculated by taking the differences between indicators reported in two equal periods of 1.5 years pre- and post-intervention, with a transition period of six months. During the study period, the database contained 1,875 notifications, with 66% of cases diagnosed in the post-intervention period. There was a predominance of males (52%); aged 50 years or more (34.9%); with mixed ethnicity (63.5%). The low level of education was noticeable, with more than half of the cases (51.7%) reporting illiteracy or ≤ 7 years of education. The intervention resulted in an increase in both, epidemiological and operational indicators, suggesting a positive impact of the intervention on leprosy detection and treatment. Our results also emphasize the need for further studies addressing the impact of pragmatic health interventions aiming at controlling and eliminating the disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Monthly rate for new cases and new cases with grade II at all ages. Vertical red bars show the start of the intervention and the end of the transition period.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Monthly rate for new cases under 15 years old. Vertical red bars show the start of the intervention and the end of the transition period.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Políticas de Saúde. Departamento de Atenção Básica . Guia para o controle da hanseníase. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde; 2002. [cited 2020 Sep 2]. http://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/guia_de_hanseniase.pdf
    1. Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Departamento de Vigilância Epidemiológica . Doenças infecciosas e parasitárias: guia de bolso. 5. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde; 2005. [cited 2020 Sep 2]. https://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/guia_bolso_5ed2.pdf
    1. Machado MP, Silva RC, Nogueira AL, Barros CV. Situação endêmica da hanseníase no período de 2006 a 2011 no município de Aparecida de Goiânia - GO. Rev Univ Vale do Rio Verde. 2014;12:316–322.
    1. Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Departamento de Vigilância das Doenças Transmissíveis . Diretrizes para a vigilância, atenção e eliminação da hanseníase como problema de saúde pública: manual técnico-operacional. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde; 2016. [cited 2020 Sep 2]. http://lproweb.procempa.com.br/pmpa/prefpoa/cgvs/usu_doc/diretrizes_hans...
    1. Duarte-Cunha M, Souza-Santos R, Matos HJ, Oliveira ML. Aspectos epidemiológicos da hanseníase: uma abordagem espacial. Cad Saude Publica. 2012;28:1143–1155. - PubMed