Psychosocial effects of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis on Patients in Northwestern Ethiopia: A qualitative study

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a serious skin disease prevalent in many countries around the world, and in Ethiopia, it presents with stigmatizing lesions sometimes compared to leprosy. However, little attention has been given to the psychosocial impact of CL on affected individuals. To address this gap, we conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 13 CL patients (three patients with diffuse CL, three with localized CL, and seven with mucocutaneous leishmaniasisis). Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data collected from the in-depth interviews. Our analysis revealed two themes: psychological burden, and social burden. As to psychosocial burden, patients reported experiencing anger, sadness, shame, fear, and hopelessness, along with feelings of inferiority.. Related to the social burden of CL, self-stigmatization, stigma, disrupted life, disability, community reaction, and lack of social support were identified as subthemes. These findings highlight the overlooked psychosocial problems faced by Ethiopian CL patients and underscore the need for patient-oriented treatment packages. Policymakers and researchers should focus on creating community awareness on CL along with integrating psychological interventions. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study was funded by the Directorate-General Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DGD), under the FA4 framework collaboration of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp, Belgium) and the University of Gondar (Gondar, Ethiopia). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: We have obtained ethical approval from the University of Gondar institutional review board. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors