Knowledge And Attitude of Indian Rural Community Towards Leprosy After Post Elimination Phase: A Survey from Karad Block, India

Introduction: Excellent knowledge and positive attitude of general public towards leprosy would improve hidden case detection rate, eliminate stigma and reduce the deformity. The study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of rural community towards leprosy and to determine the correlation among them. Methods: A community based survey was conducted in Karad Block, India in year 2013. 570 community members were selected by randomly and interviewed by using semi-structured proforma. Results: Among the total 570 community members, max 35.96 % were belonged to 30 to 40 yrs and 30.87% agriculturist by occupation. Max, 78.94% and 68.59% respondents had good quality of knowledge and positive attitude towards leprosy respectively. Age, education and occupation of respondents were significantly associated with good knowledge and positive attitude towards leprosy whereas, gender in addition played significant role with positive attitude. A positive correlation was observed between knowledge and attitude of community members towards leprosy. Conclusion: The study revealed good knowledge and positive attitude of community towards leprosy which could be an important determinant of leprosy elimination in Karad rural block.