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Quality of life in patients with lepromatous leprosy in China

The use of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was used to assess the quality of life (QoL) in 64 inpatients with lepromatous leprosy (LL) in 2 Chinese hospitals. Sixty-four age- and gender-matched healthy controls or patients with other dermatoses were included in the analysis. The presence or absence of disability was also recorded. QoL was lower in patients with LL than in controls (P < 0.001) and LL patients had higher scores (lower QoL) on all DLQI items except those for 'clothes choice'. Educational level, age, gender and disease duration were not associated with high disability scores but deformity was (P = 0.008). Thus, LL has a serious impact ...