Incidence of depression in leprosy patients – Brazil (IFMSA-Brazil)

Name of the activity: Incidence of depression in leprosy patients

Country/NMO: Brazil (IFMSA-Brazil)

Program: Mental Health

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Research

General description:

Leprosy is a chronic and infectious disease that affects, mainly,
skin and peripheral nerves. If not treated in the initial form, it almost always evolves and transmissible, can reach people of any gender or age, and the
Brazil is the second country in the number of cases of this disease in the world. THE depression is one of the mental and neurological diseases that affect approximately 700 million people worldwide, according to WHO. This represents one third of the total cases of noncommunicable diseases. According to the IBGE, depression affects around 11 million people in Brazil, and at least one third of those with Mental and neurological problems, such as depression, do not have and thus identify symptoms of depressive presentation in patients with
chronic illness still seen by society in a understanding is to increase care for the patient, globalizing it, in addition, a questionnaire will be administered with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Scale with the leprosy patients who agree to be part of the study, knowledge gained from the research may be used in the future to intensify the the care towards the target audience to which this approach refers. At the end of the will be held a moment of conversation where each one will be invited to reveal how you feel about yourself, how you perceive the world, speak about personal symptoms or about what you want to say, since related
to the theme. Participating patients are those who are currently being treated for
leprosy.

Focus area:

Mental Health among the general population

Problem statement:

Leprosy is a chronic and infectious disease that affects, mainly,
skin and peripheral nerves. If not treated in the initial form, it almost always evolves and transmissible, can reach people of any gender or age, and the
Brazil is the second country in the number of cases of this disease in the world. THE World Health Organization (WHO) defines depression as a mental disorder
characterized by sadness, loss of interest, lack of pleasure, oscillations between
feelings of guilt and low self-esteem, as well as sleep or appetite disorders. O
also brings a feeling of tiredness and lack of concentration. It is necessary to identify symptoms of depressive presentation in patients who chronic illness still seen by society in a understanding is a way to prevent a pathogenic comorbidity from arising and existing cases, depression is, in turn, a disorder causes numerous physical and emotional changes that may interfere with the treatment and quality of life, as well as leading to tragic Suicide, being aware that the suicide risk rate in depressives increases by 200% compared with individuals who do not have this disorder.

Target groups and beneficiaries:

Participating patients are those who are currently being treated for
leprosy.

Objectives and indicators of success:

– Present the objectives of the study and define participants according to the acceptance of them in their inclusion or not in the project;
– Apply Depression Scale of Montgomery-Asberg in leprosy patients who agree to participate in the study;
– Analyze the data based on the symptoms reported by the patients in the
tests;
– Define in percentage the number of patients who present symptoms
depressive disorders;
– Define in percentage the number of patients presenting
depressive disorder;
– Classify patients with depressive disorder according to the intensity of the same in mild, moderate and severe;
– Create one with a mental health professional, with the goal of to inform, raise awareness and encourage the search for help regarding the disorder depressive symptoms and / or their idiosyncratic manifestations;
– Create a therapeutic moment of self-evaluation, by stimulating free speech about feelings.

Methodology:

Disclosure will be made through the employees of the units where we will carry out the project, through word-of-mouth and social networks, training will be carried out by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist to find out about depressive disorder, the coordinator of the project will direct actions for greater effectiveness. Initially we will explain what we would like to get from the
patients to the coordinators of the basic units responsible for receiving the
patients and then define within the group of patients who wish to or not participate in the project, taking the authorization of those who accept to be part
the eight basic health units of the municipality of Cacoal-RO, UBS Nova Esperança, UBS Village do Sol (where the final meeting will also take place),
UBS Vista Alegre, UBS Cristo Rei, UBS S. Judas Tadeu, UBS Princess Isabel, USF
Gonçalves Ledo and USF Liberdade, as well as the patients in specialist leprosy clinic. The following event consists of to apply the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Scale so we can reap the data, with high validity and reliability. The scale shows 10 items, was developed in 1979, from a selection among other 65 items of a evaluation. We will then meet for the data collection, finding the number of patients presenting with symptoms depressive disorders, patients presenting with depressive disorder and patients at risk to develop depressive symptoms.

Plans for evaluation:

The impact will be assessed with the patients’ reports on self-image,
perception of the world and other symptoms, in those identified by the
Montgomery-Asberg.