Quality of Life and Self-Esteem in the Adolescent Children of Patients who are Suffering with Leprosy

Leprosy cases have reduced in great numbers now yet the existing affected population and the family members suffers with various social restrictions. These individuals have to deal with a poor quality of life and an ongoing struggle against stigma. The present study was aimed to study the Quality of life and Self Esteem in the adolescent children of patients with Leprosy. 100 students were selected from Jeevodaya School, Yesu Niwas Leprosy Rehabilitation Centre, Chhattisgarh and they were assessed on Rosenberg's self esteem scale (Rosenberg, M. 1989) and World Health Organisation Quality Of Life-BREF (WHO, 1996). Results showed that psychological health and environment were found to be comparatively higher than physical health and social relationship. The self esteem of the sample came out to be low that is 60% of the sample showed low self esteem followed by 40% showing average self esteem. Correlation between QOL and self esteem is relatively low; it is still a positive one, showing that a decrease or increase in the standards of quality of life affected the 'self-esteem' of the adolescents.