PLoS ONE (Jan 2023)

A study about management of drugs for leprosy patients under medical monitoring: A solution based on AHP-Electre decision-making methods.

  • Igor W S Falcão,
  • Daniel S Souza,
  • Diego L Cardoso,
  • Fernando A R Costa,
  • Karla T F Leite,
  • Harold D de M,
  • Claudio G Salgado,
  • Moisés B da Silva,
  • Josafá G Barreto,
  • Patricia F da Costa,
  • Adriano M Dos Santos,
  • Guilherme A B Conde,
  • Marcos C da R Seruffo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276508
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 2
p. e0276508

Abstract

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Leprosy, also known as Hansen's, is one of the listed neglected tropical diseases as a major health problem global. Treatment is one of the main alternatives, however, the scarcity of medication and its poor distribution are important factors that have driven the spread of the disease, leading to irreversible and multi-resistant complications. This paper uses a distribution methodology to optimize medication administration, taking into account the most relevant attributes for the epidemiological profile of patients and the deficit in treatment via Polychemotherapy. Multi-criteria Decision Methods were applied based on AHP-Electre model in a database with information from patients in the state of Para between 2015 and 2020. The results pointed out that 84% of individuals did not receive any treatment and, among these, the method obtained a gain in the distribution of 68% in patients with positive diagnosis for leprosy.