EXCESS MORTALITY ASSOCIATED WITH BLINDNESS IN LEPROSY PATIENTS IN KOREA

Vision loss and blindness are potential complications of leprosy. Ther e is little data available to indicate the impact of eye complications on life expectancy and quality of Life. We sought to determine the re lative risk of death in blind leprosy patients compared to nonblind le prosy patients. A population-based ocular survey of 510 mycobacteriolo gically negative leprosy patients in rural South Korea, conducted in 1 988, formed the study population. After a 7-year period patients were traced to determine their status (alive, dead, lost to follow up). Bli nd patients showed a 4.8-fold risk of death, even after adjusting for other factors, compared to nonblind patients. Young blind leprosy pati ents had the highest relative risk of death. Excess mortality was not associated with any specific cause of blindness, ocular pathology, or type of disease. Findings from our study suggest that all leprosy pati ents with ocular disabilities (including those released from antilepro sy treatment) should be targeted to receive eye care to prevent vision loss. Particular emphasis should be placed on young patients.