Epidemiological profile and spatial distribution of leprosy cases in Paraíba

Abstract

Background

Leprosy presents itself heterogeneously, which requires the recognition of profile and spatial distribution for the effectuation of control actions.

Objective

To describe the epidemiological profile and the spatial distribution of leprosy cases in the Paraíba, Brazil.

Method

Ecological study on a secondary basis with a quantitative approach. The study site was the 223 municipalities in the state of Paraíba. The data were collected in the Notifiable Diseases Information System/Leprosy for the period from 2015 to 2019. Descriptive statistics and spatial analysis were used with the aid of the R software.

Results

3,218 cases were analyzed for the epidemiological profile and 3,212 for the spatial analysis. There was a greater record in the year of 2019 (n = 778;24.2%); in males (n = 1,783; 55.5%); age group 40 to 59 years (n = 1,236; 38.4%); multibacillary classification (n = 2,095; 65.2%); dysmorphic form (n = 970; 30.2%); and degree of physical disability 0 (n = 1,611; 50.2%). 171 (76.7%) municipalities that reported cases were identified, and simple and compound conglomerates were detected involving 31 municipalities located further east and west of the state.

Conclusion

It should be noted that leprosy remains an active transmission chain in Paraíba and has a heterogeneous geographic distribution, reaffirming the importance of planning and executing more resolute control actions.

Keywords:
spatial analysis; cluster analysis; leprosy; epidemiological monitoring; health profile