Factors Contributing to Leprosy Stigma among Madurese People

Abstract

Leprosy is a disease that still has a stigma in society. Leprosy patients are considered have a curse from God, so they must be shunned, are incurable and are disinherited. This study aimed to identify the factors contributing to the leprosy stigma among the Madurese people in Indonesia. This was a descriptive analytical study with a cross-sectional approach that involved 107 adult people living around leprosy patients obtained through simple random sampling with other certain criteria. The variables measured were education, economic status, regulations and policies, cultural values and lifestyle, the family and social factor, the religious and philosophical factor, technology and leprosy stigma. The data was collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using the Spearman Rho test (α=0.05). The study revealed that education, economic level, regulations and policies, cultural values and lifestyle, the family and social factor, the religious and philosophical factor and also technology had a significant correlation with leprosy stigma (p=0.011; p=0.02; p=0.008; p=0.011; p=0.015; p=0.000; p=0.0037). It is expected for the government and health workers to conduct socialization and counseling focused on leprosy, therefore allowing people to be able to understand the disease, thus lowering the leprosy stigma. Keywords: leprosy stigma, madurese people, education, economic factor, cultural values