This is a report of a sociological study on 240 inpatients hospitalized in JALMA Leprosy Centre, India. This survey was carried out during the time ranging from October 20, 1971 to January 10, 1976. Results of the survey on the medical aspects of these patients are summarized as follows:
1. Onsets of the disease were most frequently noticed by the patients at the ages between 11 and 15 (39.1%).
2. 75% of the patients came to the hospital because of patches on their body surface. However, many of them did not know the nature of the disease until the medical staffs explained it to them.
There were considerable number of patients defaulted from the regular treatment(46.2%). Their reasons for the drop-out were the absence of pain and the frustration for the retarded improvement of the clinical symptomes of leprosy. Many of them changed to other treatment centres in expectation for the better treatment.
3. 45% of inpatients had leprosy patients in their families or relatives. Cases with leprosy parents were the most frequent (43.1%).
4. Most of the patients changed more or less their food habits after the onset of the disease. 59.7% of them stopped taking animal foods such as meat, fish and egg after they had leprosy.
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