Factors that are correlated with the incidence of peripheral neuropathy in patients with Morbus Hansen at Sanglah Hospital Denpasar in 2018

Morbus Hansen (MH) also known as leprosy is a granulomatous infection of the skin and peripheral nerves caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Even though the MH prevalence has decreased from 5.4 million to 1 million, new cases of 685 thousand are still found and approximately 20% of these cases are at risk of neurological dysfunction with various factors. Peripheral neuropathy is a peripheral nervous system disorder including sensory, motoric and autonomic nervous disorders. MH is one of the causes. Semmes Weinstein Monofilament (SWM) is a tool for examining sensory nerves in the upper and lower extremities. The aim of this study was to determine the factors that correlate with the incidence of peripheral neuropathy in patients with MH. This research used descriptive observational method with cross sectional design. 30 MH sufferers were examined with Semmes Weinstein Monofilament. Subjects were said to have neuropathy if Monofilament > 0.07gram in upper limb and > 0.4gram in lower limb and were analysed with the expected factors. The results recorded in the table are calculated in percentage. The results were obtained from 30 subjects, 15 men (50%) and 15 women (50%). From the examination of upper limb monofilament in MH patients, mostly aged 36-45 years were 10 people (33.3%) (r = 0.365) (p = 0.047), with 20 married people (80%) and 10 single or unmarried people (20% ) with a value (r = 0.535) (p = 0.001). Besides, from the examination of the lower limb monofilament in MH patients with illness > 2 years was 44% while those <2 years was 56% with a value (r = 0.475) (p = 0.008). It can be concluded that peripheral neuropathy of the upper limb in MH correlates with age and marital status whereas in the lower extremity it correlates with the duration of illness.