TABLE II. Characteristics of case-control sample from the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
| Variable | Leprosy n (%) | Contact n (%) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||
| Household | Neighbour | |||
| Sex (male/female) | 570 (273/285) | 129 (46/83) | - | 0.0080a |
| - | 237 (77/160) | < 0.0001a | ||
| Age mean, years (range) | 44.09 (10-98) | 37.95 (11-93) | - | 0.0016b |
| - | 38.39 (10-92) | 0.0002b | ||
| Education (< high school) | 396 (79.8) | 79 (75.9) | - | 0.4254a |
| - | 164 (75.9) | 0.2737a | ||
| Time living in same household (> 5 years) | 357 (74.4) | 77 (66.4) | - | 0.1030a |
| - | 175 (78.5) | 0.2578a | ||
| Family income (< 4 minimal wagesc) | 378 (90) | 61 (85) | - | 0.2146b |
| - | 200 (87) | 0.2420b | ||
| Lepromatous (LL/BL) | 186 (32.7) | - | - | - |
| Tuberculoid (BB/BT/TT) | 301 (52.9) | - | - | - |
| Other leprosy clinical forms | 45 (7.9) | - | - | - |
| Unclassified leprosy | 37 (6.5) | - | - | - |
| Erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) | 70 (12.3) | - | - | - |
| Reversal reaction (RR) | 96 (16.9) | - | - | - |
| ENL and RR | 24 (4.2) | - | - | - |
a: Fisher’s exact test; b: Student’s t test; c: minimal wage in Brazil is about U$56/week; BB: borderline; BL: borderline lepromatous; BT: borderline tuberculoid; LL: lepromatous; TT: tuberculoid.