Health beliefs surrounding leprosy induced foot
ulceration ; an exploratory qualitative study from
South Nepal

DeSancha, M; Jha, K; Williams, AE

Abstract

Leprosy is a complex and multi-faceted disease responsible for significant disability
in several endemic countries. Physical impairments caused by leprosy are often
amplified by local sociocultural phenomena in many parts of the world. In Nepal,
sociocultural phenomena such as stigmatisation and health beliefs affecting treatment
compliance and health seeking behaviours are known to play an important role in the
acquisition of disability. Foot-ulceration is reported to be a common sequelae of
leprosy, however, presently little research has been published investigating the
potential influence of patient beliefs on management of foot ulceration in leprosy
affected persons.
Objective: In light of this we conducted an exploratory qualitative study to
investigate the health beliefs held by patients with foot ulceration at a Leprosy
hospital in Nepal.
Methods: A mixture of open-ended interviews (n ¼ 21), three focus groups and a
series of field observations were used to explore the explanatory models of foot
ulceration thought to be used by leprosy affected people to understand and explain
this specific comorbidity.
Results: Our findings indicated that a wide range of health beliefs were present in
our sample, many of which lie outside of the biomedical understanding of illness.
This included a range of non-biomedical beliefs regarding wounds and widespread
application of the traditional ‘hot-cold’ model of illness used to explain foot
ulceration.
Discussion: The findings of this study appear to suggest many beliefs held by
leprosy affected persons concerning foot ulceration are highly complex, with some
expressed beliefs potentially having a negative impact on self-management of
ulceration.

Citation

South Nepal. Leprosy Review, 86(Sep), 254-264

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 22, 2015
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: May 3, 2016
• Journal: Leprosy review
• Print ISSN: 0305-7518
• Volume: 86
• Issue: Sep
• Pages: 254-264
• Publisher URL: http://www.lepra.org.uk/platforms/lepra/files/lr/Sept15/Lep254-264.pdf
• Related Public URLs: https://www.lepra.org.uk/leprosy-review