Leprosy as Seen by Medical Students
Keywords:
leprosy, students, skills, prevention.Abstract
Introduction: Leprosy is one of the oldest diseases known by humanity. It has been considered a stigmatizing disease, which has been the cause of inhumane treatment to affected people.
Objective: To determine the level of knowledge that fifth-year medical students have about leprosy at the beginning of their Dermatology rotation.
Methods: A descriptive, observational and cross-sectional study was carried out with fifth-year medical students from Miguel Enriquez School of Medical Sciences, in the period from September 2018 to July 2019. The universe consisted of 204 students. The statistical method used for the interpretation of the variables was absolute and relative frequency. The results are presented in tables.
Results: 46% of the students did not know what leprosy is. 53.7% were unaware of the disease’s transmission routes. 89.8% indicated that patients with this disease should be isolated. 79.6% stated that treatment should be carried out with the patient hospitalized.
Conclusions: If we want to meet the goals of the World Health Organization for the period 2021-2030, it is increasingly necessary to incorporate medical students into this task and, therefore, develop in them skills that allow them to carry out promotion and prevention actions with respect to this disease.
