Simplified Neurological Assessment - Leprosy Pernambuco Dataset (2014–2025): A Dataset from a Reference Center in Pernambuco, Brazil.

Description

This dataset provides sociodemographic, clinical, and functional information used for monitoring patients with suspected or confirmed leprosy, based on forms from the Simplified Neurological Assessment (from Portuguese: “Avaliação Neurológica Simplificada” - ANS) employed in Brazil. The data were collected at a reference center for the treatment of the disease in Pernambuco, a hyperendemic region in Northeastern Brazil, and include forms generated between 2014 and 2025.The study was conducted under ethical approval granted by the institutional research ethics committee (CAAE: 79763024.8.0000.5192). The dataset comprises records from 222 unique patients, totaling 288 ANS forms and 648 digitized neurological evaluations. It consists of the file “data_dictionary.pdf,” which includes a data dictionary describing all variables, data types, and coding schemes, as well as nine CSV files: the files “Paciente.csv” and “Ficha.csv” contain sociodemographic data; the file “Queixas.csv” contains information on patient-reported complaints related to the nose, eyes, upper limbs, and lower limbs; the files “Membro superior.csv” and “Membro inferior.csv” contain data from neurological assessments of the hands and feet, respectively, based on palpation and muscle strength testing; the files “Avaliacao sensitiva mao.csv” and “Avaliação sensitiva pe.csv” contain data from neurological assessments of the hands and feet, respectively, based on tactile sensitivity; and the file “Pontuacao.csv” contains information on the scores assigned to the assessment of the degree of disability of the eyes, hands, and feet, as well as the sum of all scores. An example workflow demonstrating how to read and integrate data into a denormalized tabular format, suitable for analysis, visualization, and machine learning, is provided via the Github repository link.

Steps to reproduce

The original records were obtained from the Otávio de Freitas Hospital, a reference center for leprosy treatment in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil; all ANS forms are filled out on paper by healthcare professionals who performed the clinical evaluation of patients treated at the hospital. The transformation of the analogue records into a set of digital data involved the followed steps: digitalization of the ANS; manual review of the high-resolution digital images generated by digitization, and transcription of the records into a structured tabular format, preserving the fidelity of the original records. During digitalization, each form was assigned a unique identifier (ID_form) to ensure traceability throughout the data processing and validation workflow. An interdisciplinary team conducted a technical validation procedure to verify the consistency and accuracy of the digitized data. This validation involved a systematic comparison between the digital records in the structured tabular format and the corresponding digitized forms to identify and correct possible transcription errors.

Institutions

• Universidade de Pernambuco

  Pernambuco, Recife

Categories

Funders

• Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

  Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation

  Brasília

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