Analysing the degree of physical disability in new leprosy cases

This book is the result of my master's dissertation research, defended in 2016, and was developed at the Specialised Reference Unit (URE) in Sanitary Dermatology in Pará, where I have been working as a nurse since 2012. We receive patients every day at the URE from all over the state of Pará and neighbouring states, with patients from the interior of the state being notorious, and many of these have physical disabilities already installed at diagnosis. In this context, given the persistence of high rates of physical disability in leprosy, the difficulty of early diagnosis and the damage caused, we sought to understand the sociodemographic and clinical variables that influenced the onset of Physical Disability Levels 1 and 2, with a view, above all, to aligning and implementing control actions and public policies geared to the situation.