Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae . Brazil is the second country with the highest number of cases worldwide, making it an important public health problem. Leprosy can be classified into different clinical forms according to presentation: indeterminate, tuberculoid, borderline, and lepromatous. Currently, treatment is carried out with a combination of medications such as rifampicin, dapsone, and clofazimine. However, this therapeutic regimen still faces challenges in being adequately completed. This study aimed to evaluate medication adherence among patients diagnosed with leprosy in a state of Northern Brazil. Epidemiological data were obtained from the Hospital Information System of SUS (SIH-SUS) and accessed through the Health Data Tabulator (TABNET) of the Department of Informatics of the Brazilian Unified Health System (DATASUS). From 2022 to 2024, 6,032 cases of leprosy were observed in the region, of which 4,481 (74.28%) were classified as new cases and 379 as relapses (6.28%). The most prevalent clinical form was borderline, with 3,134 cases (51.95%). Regarding treatment, during this period, 4,920 patients used multibacillary multidrug therapy (MB-MDT) with a duration of 12 months. Although 2,519 (51.19%) patients completed treatment adequately and fully, 47.49% were unable to complete treatment. Among these, 223 patients did not take any dose of the therapeutic regimen, while 2,114 took at least one dose but did not complete the required 12 doses. It is concluded that although many patients complete the therapeutic regimen, there is still a significant number who fail to complete all 12 treatment doses. This directly impacts disease incidence, as inadequate treatment facilitates transmission to others. Lack of follow-up in primary healthcare units, combined with low socioeconomic status, may be directly related to treatment abandonment. Therefore, closer patient monitoring is necessary to improve medication adherence and reduce disease incidence and consequences.
Gomes et al. (Sun,) studied this question.