Leprosy and vulnerability: a scoping review

Abstract

The objective of this work was to review published scientific works on leprosy as a public health problem in Brazil, and the marker of vulnerability for people with the disease. A scoping review was carried out with the descriptor ‘leprosy AND vulnerability’, on the Virtual Health Library (BVS) database. A total of 29 articles published between January 2016 and December 2020 that met the inclusion criteria were selected. The results pointed to scientific papers published in indexed journals and with different impact factors, with emphasis on the fact that most of the selected publications appear in journals with impact metrics that are not very significant in the eyes of the international community, even though they have national impact. The majority of the studies had municipal coverage, with emphasis on cities in the North and Northeast of Brazil. The works addressed vulnerability in leprosy using different typologies.

Key words:
Leprosy; Health vulnerability; Social stigma; State-of-the-art review