Decrease health-related quality of life in pediatric leprosy patients with musculoskeletal manifestations

Introduction Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is caused by the Mycobacterium leprae. The clinical features of pediatric leprosy include several skin lesions, numbness of the skin, damage of peripheral nerves, arthralgia and arthritis. In this regard, we recently reported that musculoskeletal manifestations were associated with severe leprosy in children and adolescents, especially in patients presenting nerve function impairment and neuropathy. Furthermore, adult leprosy patients could present a decrease in healthrelated quality of life (HRQL), particularly in physical capacity and social participation domains. To our knowledge, HRQL was rarely reported in pediatric leprosy, and the impact of musculoskeletal manifestations on HRQL was not previous investigated.