Quality of life of people living with leishmaniasis: an integrative literature review

Although common in the tropics, leishmaniasis is a neglected disease. It is caused by the intracellular protozoan species Leishmania.The disease is transmitted by a phlebotomine vector and presents different clinical manifestations: cutaneous and visceral. The latter pose imminent risk of death depending on the clinical condition of the affected person. This research is a descriptive, integrative review about the quality of life of people living with leishmaniasis. The following steps were followed: elaboration of the question; methodological description of the selection of studies; retrieval, analysis and judgment of data; data collection; and description of the resulting synthesis. The search in the Capes journal platform resulted in 37 articles, while in the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations resulted in one thesis. Ten studies were initially selected for this manuscript, and after reading the texts in full length, 13 publications were selected to compose the sample, considering the eligibility criteria and reverse search. It was evident that there are few publications on the theme, taking into account the magnitude of the impact of this problem on public health. No studies used the mixed method in their investigations. Regarding the dimensions of quality of life affected by leishmaniasis, it was observed that there was a negative impact on the quality of life of people affected by the disease. The psychological dimension of human health and overall health as well as the physical dimension were affected, and especially when related to the pharmacological treatment. Given this, further research addressing the quality of life of these individuals in a more thorough way, providing comprehensiveness through the various dimensions of the human being.