A multi-centre study on quality of routine data collection on relapses.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the quality of routine data collection on relapses in leprosy programmes in six countries. DESIGN: Through a questionnaire for project managers. RESULTS: The number of reported relapse cases did not correlate with number of new cases in the individual projects. Even where available, skin smears were not always used for diagnosis of MB cases and relapses. The diagnosis of relapses in the participating projects was exclusively on clinical basis - in 91.8% on the basis of new lesions. CONCLUSION: Criteria for identification of relapses were not known or not applied in uniform manner in the projects involved in the research.