Table 1. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics at diagnosis of the 713-patient cohort treated with multibacillary multidrug therapy at Souza Araújo Outpatient Clinic, Fiocruz, during 1997–2017.
| Characteristic | Number of patients (valid %) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sex | ||
| Male | 509 (71.4) | |
| Female | 204 (28.6) | |
| Educational level (years) | ||
|
80 (11.4) | |
| <9 | 357 (50.8) | |
| 9–11 | 134 (19.1) | |
| >11 | 131 (18.7) | |
| Not available | 11 | |
| Clinical Form | ||
| Lepromatous leprosy | 330 (46.3) | |
| Borderline-Lepromatous | 237 (33.2) | |
| Borderline -Borderline | 141 (19.7) | |
| Borderline-Tuberculoid | 3 (0.4) | |
| Indeterminate | 2 (0.3) | |
| Number of skin lesions | ||
| Single lesion | 21 (3.6) | |
| 2–5 lesions | 46 (7.8) | |
| 6–10 lesions | 50 (8.5) | |
| 11–20 lesions | 294 (50.2) | |
| More than 20 lesions | 175 (29.9) | |
| Not available | 127 | |
| Treatment duration (months)* | ||
| 12 | 202 (28.3) | |
| 13–18 | 491 (68.9) | |
| > 18 | 20 (2.8) | |
| Disability grade | Initial | RFT |
| 0 (no disability) | 362 (56.5) | 331 (55.9) |
| 1 (anaesthesia/paresis) | 180 (28.1) | 187 (31.6) |
| 2 (deformity/ulcer) | 99 (15.4) | 74 (12.5) |
| Not available | 72 | 121 |
| Bacillary index | Initial | RFT (n = 531) |
| 0 | 0 (0.0) | 98 (18.4) |
| 0.05–3.38 | 343 (48.5) | 251 (47.2) |
| ≥3.5 | 367 (51.5) | 183 (34.4) |
| Median | 3.50 | 2.50 |
| Minimum, maximum | 0.16, 6.00 | 0.0, 5.90 |
| First and third quartiles | 1.75, 4.25 | 0.50, 3.76 |
*All patients received a twelve-dose MB-MDT scheme, but some were non-compliant with the monthly schedule or had to delay treatment due to adverse effect. Treatment duration was calculated using the date the patient received his/her first supervised dose until he/she received the last supervised dose, regardless the time taken to restart the treatment in case of non-compliance.
RFT = release from treatment