The knowledge about leprosy by health undergraduate students at the public university in county Brazilian northeast

Abstract

This paper’s goal is analyzing the knowledge about leprosy by health undergraduate students at the public university in county Brazilian northeast. The population was constituted of undergraduate health students on the last term. The data were analyzed by means of the descriptive and inferential statistics. A type I error was fixated at 5% (p<0,05) as statistically significant. In what refers to the contact of students with carriers and ex-carriers of leprosy, the Medical School had the bigger percentage of contact, 18(90%); in the schools of nutrition, odontology and pharmacy the students that never got in contact represented 8 (100%), 15 (83,33%) and 19 (90,48%), respectively. When questioned on how to cure the leprosy, 18 nursing undergrads (94,74%) and 19 of the Medical School (95%) affirmed that it was possible. However, in the nursing course, 1(5,26%), odontology, 3 (16,67%), pharmacy, 3 (16,67%) and nutrition, 4 (50%) students affirmed not knowing how. A statistically significant difference was presented (p-value<0,036), showing that the expected frequency is equivalent to the
observed one. About the knowledge of the incubation period of the etiologic agent, it was revealed that 12 (63,16%) nursing students, 8 (100%) nutrition, 16 (88,89%) odontology and 15 (71,43%) pharmacy students did not know the bacillus’ incubation period. The p-value = 0,010 showed significance, showing that none of the interviewed nutrition students signed the correct answer. The study shows that the undergraduate students of nutrition, pharmacy and odontology present unsatisfactory knowledge on leprosy.