Factors associated with Quality of Life and Stigma in intrahome contacts of individuals treated with Leprosy

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the quality of life (QoL) and associated factors in household contacts (IC) of individuals treated for leprosy. Methods: This was a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study, with 301 CI of 172 new cases of leprosy, diagnosed in 2018, in the health districts of Imperatriz (MA). Data collection took place during home visits, after approval by the Research Ethics Committee. The SPSS software was used for descriptive statistical analysis and the chi-square or Fisher's exact test to verify the association between QoL and stigma, sociodemographic and health variables, with a significance level of 5%. Results: General QoL was unsatisfactory for 89.4% of IC and stigma was high in 43.2% of cases. There was a significant association between stigma (high and low) and QoL (satisfactory and unsatisfactory) (p>0.05). Conclusion: It is considered that IC with a long stay at home are vulnerable to illness and have QoL impaired by several factors, mainly precarious social conditions. Although the majority sought the UBS to assess the contagion, there were co-prevalent cases and overlapping of the disease, feeding the transmission chain, thus suggesting the strengthening of surveillance actions, reducing the stigma and the impacts on the QoL of ICs.