An assessment of knowledge and attitude towards leprosy among undergraduate medical students

Introduction: Inappropriate knowledge and erroneous beliefs about leprosy and the disabilities caused by the disease are the main reasons for the stigma attached to the disease. The current research was embarked to determine the knowledge and attitude of the medical students towards leprosy and to compare them between freshers and outgoing students and to know the effect of undergraduate medical teaching. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study done at a medical college in South India. The freshers and outgoing students were given a pre-contrived, pre-verified, organized questionnaire on leprosy. The results were analysed using percentage proportions, Z test and P-values. Results: The test was answered by 66 outgoing students and 129 freshers. Outgoing students had better knowledge about leprosy being a bacterial disease, mode of transmission, cardinal signs, diagnostic test, medications used in multi-drug therapy (MDT) and cause of deformity when compared to the first years with a statistically significant difference. But the knowledge regarding few signs and symptoms of leprosy, nerve commonly affected, medical emergency in leprosy, duration of World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended paucibacillary and muiltibacillary MDT, deformities, vaccines and prevention of the disease was inadequate. The knowledge of the outgoing students about the present day situation of leprosy in India was superior than their counterparts. All the outgoing students had positive attitude towards leprosy when compared to first years, which was statistically significant. Conclusion: The knowledge and attitude reflected in the data obtained from the students revealed the need for an increased emphasis on imparting adequate leprosy related knowledge.