Japanese Journal of Leprosy最新文献

A Hansen’s disease (HD) policy began in Japan with the enactment of the No. 11 Act on Leprosy (1907 law No. 11), which was the first leprosy prevention law in Japan in 1907. Results of the law included the enforcement of regulations of the stated law and the establishment of Prefectural Allied (National) HD Sanatoriums in 1909. This policy continued until the “leprosy prevention law” abolition in 1996, and about 35,000 people were placed in isolation; however, its entering and out-going trends are not clear yet. The purpose of this research is to clarify the actual condition of the Japanese HD policy. We added up the number of individuals entering and leaving the sanatorium from 1909 to 2010. This information was collected from annual reports and the internal material from each national sanatorium. In the results, the number of general residents (new, re-entering, transferring from other sanatoriums) and the number of general out-going persons (transferring to another sanatorium, formal discharge, informal discharge including escape and wrong diagnosis, and others) were all totaled as the running number during the 102 year span, in addition to being added to the deaths. The results show that the number of general residents was 56,575 people and the number of general out-going persons was 54,047 people (death: 25,200 people; change of sanatorium: 4,350 people; formal discharge: 7,124 people; informal discharge including escape: 12,378 people; wrong diagnosis: 310 people; others: 4,685 people). Based on the details of each leprosy prevention law, the results for the first “1907 law No. 11” show that the number of general residents was 12,673 people and the number of general out-going persons was 9,070 people. The “1931 leprosy prevention law” results show that the number of general residents was 31,232 people and the number of general out-going persons was 23,354 people. The “1953 leprosy prevention law” results show that the number of general inmates was 12,098 people and the number of general out-going persons was 18,159 people. The “1996 law about repeal of leprosy prevention law” results show that the number of general residents was 572 people and the number of general out-going persons was 3,464 people. We can clarify the number of general residents and the number of general out-going persons in the National HD Sanatoriums in Japan.

One of the leprosy treatment centers (hospital X) in Vietnam offers loan programs to start work as part of the socio-economic rehabilitation program for ex-leprosy patients. The aim of this study is to examine and evaluate the contents of the program from the ex-leprosy patients’ perspective. The interview group was sub-divided into three groups: male/female and the younger group. A focus group interview method was used to collect qualitative data. The participant program group revealed that their income increased and their health condition improved; moreover, they evaluated the program highly as they can borrow business loan at no interest. Meanwhile, the participants were challenged with a few problems: the frequency in the illness of the livestock and the forcible discounting in the livestock’s price by the customers who use the excuse that the livestock has been raised by ex-leprosy patients. The younger group had concerns regarding the program; they were worried about the repayment of the business loan. Both groups noted points to improve the current program especially in terms of changing the loan repayment schedule and loan volume. Therefore, the program has to be adapted to the needs of ex-leprosy patients.

This study aims to clarify the structure of practices and tasks of death watch care in the A National Sanatorium for Sufferers of Hansen’s Disease (shown as A Sanatorium). A semi-structured interview was conducted of four nurses with experience of death watch care. Then, it was analyzed using the qualitative unification methods (KJ methods) individually and comprehensively. According to the results of the comprehensive analysis, nurses tended to feel strongly toward “a necessity of death watch care with a focus on family” through their communication with residents with poor relationships with their families. With this feeling in mind, they were placed everyday in “death watch care, focusing on supporting resident’s lives through daily care” while trying to be conscious of life-support for them. In practice every day, they seemed to be satisfied and encouraged by “tasks of death care are to focus on the resident’s value of life.” However, nurses with little experience of death watch care were full of anxiety and dilemmas emerged when they began death watch care. During this process, it was verified that there was “a gap in consciousness among nurses administering death watch care” and “an uncertainness of policies of institutions that accepted the death watch of residents.” In this way, an method for future death watch care in A Sanatorium was shown.

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that has an impact on the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of sufferers as well as their children. To date, no study has investigated the effects of parental leprosy on the well-being of adolescent children.A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Lalitpur and Kathmandu districts of Nepal. Adolescents with leprosy-affected parents (n=102; aged 11-17 years) and those with parents unaffected by leprosy (n=115; 11-17 years) were investigated. Self-reported data from adolescents were collected using the Kinder Lebensqualität Fragebogen (KINDLR) questionnaire to assess HRQOL, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare scores between the two groups. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to explore the determinants of HRQOL for adolescents with leprosy-affected parents.ANCOVA revealed that the KINDLR and RSES scores were significantly lower among adolescents with leprosy-affected parents compared with unaffected parents. The CES-D score was significantly higher among adolescents with leprosy-affected parents than for adolescents with unaffected parents. The KINDLR scores for adolescents with both parents affected were significantly lower than the scores for those with one parent affected. Multiple regression analysis revealed that adolescents with leprosy-affected parents who had higher levels of depressive symptoms were more likely to have lower KINDLR scores. A similar result was seen for adolescents where both parents had leprosy.Adolescents with leprosy-affected parents had higher levels of depressive symptoms, lower levels of self-esteem, and lower HRQOL compared with adolescents whose parents were unaffected by leprosy.