Validation of assessment tools for the early detection of ocular involvement in leprosy

Objective: Ocular leprosy needs early detection to prevent blindness, but early detection tools for ocular leprosy vary. Thus, it is important to develop a valid and sensitive screening tool that physicians other than ophthalmologists who treat leprosy can use. This study aims to validate and measure the sensitivity of an early detection checklist that we created for ocular examination in patients with leprosy. Materials and Methods: We designed a checklist according to the symptoms and signs of ocular leprosy based on suggestions from dermatovenereologists and ophthalmologists. Leprosy patients at the Dermatology and Venereology Outpatient Clinic of Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital were examined by a general practitioner (nonophthalmologist) using the checklist as a screening tool; then, they were re-examined by an ophthalmologist as a gold standard. We conducted data analysis to validate and determine the sensitivity of the screening tool. Results: The checklist had good validity, reliability, and sensitivity, with a correlation value of 0.664 (P < 0.05), a Cronbach's α of 0.715, 85.42% sensitivity, and 73.33% specificity. The prevalence of ocular involvement in this study was 77%, with dry eyes, cataract, madarosis, lagophthalmos, and glaucoma as the most common ocular complications found. Conclusion: The checklist in this study is validated and sensitive; thus, it can be used as a screening tool to detect ocular involvement in leprosy.