Utilization of government healthcare services by adult leprosy patients in the Western Province, Sri Lanka.

Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101291488 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1935-2735 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19352727 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science

Health Education* ; Health Services Accessibility*; Leprosy/*prevention & control; Adolescent ; Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Government Programs ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sri Lanka ; Young Adult

Background: The leprosy services utilization by the patients at the clinic and field level should be high to achieve the target of eliminating leprosy as a public health problem in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, assessing patient and health system delay of a diagnosis and patient knowledge on disease are of equal importance to reveal the accurate picture.
Methods and Findings: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the utilization of government healthcare services by 672 adult leprosy patients in Western Province (WP). Paucibacillary patients diagnosed at least six months and above, and Multibacillary patients diagnosed at least 12 months and above were selected by consecutive sampling method. An interviewer-administered questionnaire (IAQ) was used for data collection. Clinic utilization by leprosy patients was 87.8%. The mean patient-related delay (time taken from the onset of symptoms to the encounter of a doctor/health facility for the first time) was 16.8 months and health care system delay (time taken from the date of clinic registration to start of treatment) was 21.2 days. The overall delay was 17.5 months. Services provided by the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) office for families affected with leprosy was known by 53.8% (n = 298) of patients. Majority of family contacts were examined at the hospitals (n = 299, 44%), 30.8% (n = 207) by the Public Health Inspectors (PHI) and 7% (n = 46) at the MOH offices. PHIs had visited 56.7% (n = 401) of the patient's houses and 54% (n = 363) had received health education by PHI. Mean knowledge score was 50.7 (SD = 17.9). More than half (57.9%, n = 389) of the study sample had a good or very good knowledge level.
Conclusions: Utilization of clinic services was satisfactory. However, a considerable patient-related delay was found. Half of the patients were aware of available field services and a majority of contact screening was conducted at hospitals. Patient knowledge on leprosy was satisfactory.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Health Policy Plan. 2012 Oct;27(7):590-9. (PMID: 22258470)
Lepr Rev. 2009 Dec;80(4):416-23. (PMID: 20306640)
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017 Jan 12;11(1):e0005192. (PMID: 28081131)
Healthc Policy. 2011 May;6(4):e106-17. (PMID: 22548101)
Trop Med Int Health. 2018 Feb;23(2):193-198. (PMID: 29230912)
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016 Mar 15;10(3):e0004542. (PMID: 26977811)
Lepr Rev. 2010 Dec;81(4):299-305. (PMID: 21313975)
QJM. 2001 Apr;94(4):207-12. (PMID: 11294963)
Lepr Rev. 2006 Mar;77(1):41-7. (PMID: 16715689)
Lepr Rev. 2006 Dec;77(4):356-65. (PMID: 17343222)
Lepr Rev. 2005 Mar;76(1):35-47. (PMID: 15881034)
J Environ Public Health. 2009;2009:106389. (PMID: 19936124)

Date Created: 20201231 Date Completed: 20210222 Latest Revision: 20210222

20240105

PMC7806162

10.1371/journal.pntd.0008973

33382692