Pramila Barkataki|Sheo Kumar|Padma Rao
Knowledge of and attitudes to leprosy among patients and community members: a comparative study in Uttar Pradesh, India
roles literacy gender enhancing help seeking behaviour leprosy need research order maximize effectiveness health education programmes study leprosy knowledge attitudes carried uttar pradesh one hyper endemic states leprosy north india random sample 130 leprosy patients 120 nonleprosy patients 150 community members questionnaire prepared tested administered hindi local language qualified interviewer statistical analyses done group gender literacy compared almost everyone three groups knew leprosy larger proportion leprosy patients 60 mentioned anaesthetic patch compared 20 less groups vast majority groups mentioned bad blood divine curse cause even among leprosy patients less 10 illiterates 40 literates cited infection cause leprosy literates better though still quite poor knowledge symptoms well causation leprosy however almost stated leprosy curable though couldnt mention mdt specifically felt patients need deformity 2030 leprosy affected nearly 5060 groups stated discrimination nearly 70 felt leprosy affected social participation 90 attributing adverse social stigma multivariate analyses adjusted sex confirmed significant association literacy knowledge attitudes light massive health education iec campaigns findings study disappointing adult literacy programmes combined innovative focused approaches suit various target audiences impact knowledge attitudes better