Factors Associated with the Severity of COVID-19 Symptoms among Leprosy Patients in Thailand

Abstract

Elderly, disabled, dependent, and chronically ill leprosy patients are vulnerable. When infected with
COVID-19, they will be more affected and severely affected than the general population. This study is
a cross-sectional study utilized retrospective data from the digital medical records system at Rajpracha
samasai Institute for the years 2020-2021. The objective was to investigate factors associated with the
severity of COVID-19 symptoms in leprosy patients in Thailand. The analysis method were descriptive
and inferential statistics, specifically multivariable logistic regression analysis. The study identified 120
leprosy patients who were infected by COVID-19; of whom 55.83% were male, with an average age
of 71 years. Among the participants, 80.83% had underlying conditions, 75.00% had deformities, and
57.50% were dependent on others. The factors that were significantly associated with the severity of
COVID-19 symptoms included male, employed, alcohol consumption, having underlying conditions,
abnormal chest X-ray findings, use of favipiravir combined with other medications, intravenous fluid
therapy combined with medication and abnormal blood concentration levels (p<0.05). After controlling
for inconsistent variables, and when controlling for the influence of confounding variables, it was found
that the X-ray results with abnormal lungs were a factor associated with the severity of COVID-19
symptoms in the leprosy patient group. Therefore, abnormal lung symptoms should be monitored by
annual X-ray examination to promote the quality of life of leprosy patients to live happily in their later
years according to individual differences.