The differences in maternal and child health factoramongst leprosy patients in endemic and non-endemic areas

Abstract

Introduction: Leprosy, a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae infection arise new concern in pediatrics health problems. Total number of pediatric leprosy cases are hard to eliminate due to dominance of parenting and household position of mothers. In this study, we evaluated the roles of maternal and child health factors amongst leprosy patients in endemic and non-endemic areas. Methods: Cross sectional study was conducted on Tuban Regency, East Java through interview guided by questioner on 106 pairs mother-child selected from local primary health center’s registry data and selection through inclusion and exclusion criteria. Several parameters were analyzed: mother’s age, children’s age, gender of children, antenatal care, breastfeeding, and childbirth methods. Data were analyzed using ANOVA test. Results: Statistically significant results were found in the age of mother (p = 0.007) and child (p =0.001) with older ages observed in the population lived in the endemic area. Gender of children (p=0.997), childbirth methods (p=0.172), antenatal care (p= 0.353), and breastfeeding (p=0.507) in this study showed insignificant results. Conclusions: The differences in mothers and children ages are associated with leprosy among the population lived in leprosy endemic areas compared to the control group with delayed in diagnosis and long incubation period should be considered as factors contributed in this findings.