[Prevention and treatment of physical disabilities in Hansen's disease in Brazil: study of specific professional risk for the disease].

As a continuation of the research line related to the insertion of prevention and treatment of physical disability in programs of leprosy control, we present here results related to specific professional risk for the disease based on data obtained in a recent multicenter investigation at the national level in Brazil. In a survey of 416 professionals and 69 health units, 179 patients with different clinical forms of leprosy were surveyed. Using initial and current patient socioprofessional condition (whether economically active or dependent and the different modalities of the two situations) as an indicator of social mobility, the associations were tested using the chi 2 statistical parameter of Pearson. The results revealed statistical significance at the 5% level among the variables investigated both in the first and the second specific determination.