SILVA, Natália Azevedo da.
Abstract:
The living conditions of people with disabilities due to leprosy (Hansen`s disease) is a great
public health problem, however, the access to the health care services, for this population,
needs a strengthening. The purpose of this study was to analyze the accessibility to the health
assistance for people with physical disabilities caused by leprosy. This is a descriptive study
with a qualitative approach, carried out in a Basic Health Unit, in Cajazeiras-PB city. The data
were collected in August 2016, by recorded interviews, which were guided by a semi-
structured questionnaire, and, through the leprosy compulsory notification records, obtained
from the Sistema de Informações de Agravos de Notificação – SINAM (Notifiable Diseases
Information System). Then, the data were exposed descriptivelly, and, arranged and
categorized by the Bardin content analysis method. The results were discussed according to
the pertinent literature. This study was a part of the research entitled "Accessibility to the
health care services for people with physical disabilities caused by leprosy", which had a
favorable opinion from the Committee for Ethics in Research of the Federal University of
Campina Grande - Campus Cajazeiras, under the certificate number 1.421.681. The sample
was formed by 7 people with physical disabilities due to leprosy. Most respondents (85.7%)
were women, and at the time of the diagnosis, they had a low level of education (85.7%); the
predominance (71.4%) was of mixed race/color women (self-declared); with no mentioned
occupation (42.8%); diagnosis of multibacillary leprosy (85.7%), and, those that had been
diagnosed as paucibacillary, later, were identified as multibacillary; and presenting disability
on the lower limbs (71.4%). Among the research participants, 5 (71.4%) live in the same
micro area, and 2 (28.5%) of them, reported the occurrence of the disease within the family,
before they had been diagnosed. The results revealed that on the perception of the
respondents, the accessibility to the health care services was satisfactory. However, all of
them, had physical disabilities already installed at the moment of the diagnosis. Thus,
evidencing the late diagnosis and the lack of knowledge about the disease, and, exposing the
fragility of the health service on provide the necessary accessibility. The study pointed to the
need of training for the health professionals and the implementation of more effective
strategies to facilitate the early detection of the disease, the surveillance, control and
prevention of physical disabilities. We recommended an expressive participation of the health
managers to provide favorable conditions to the multidisciplinary team, in order to make
possible their efficient work. Moreover, we encourage the development of new studies on this
topic, aiming to improve the assistance for the population.
