CHAPTER IV - TREATMENT BEHAVIOUR OF TB PATIENTS <<Back
 
a) Treatment Failure & The Problem of Non Adherence
 
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AU : Sharma SK, Patodi RK, Sharma PK & Mittal MC
TI : A study of default in drug intake by patients of pulmonary tuberculosis in Indore.(MP).
SO : INDIAN J PREV & SOC MED 1979, 10, 216-221.
DT : Per
AB :

To examine the problem of default in drug intake, a study of 320 patients with pulmonary TB and who were taking treatment at home from the domiciliary section of the TB Clinic in Indore, (Jan. 1969 - June 1970), was undertaken. Of 320 patients, 182 (56.2%) were defaulters. Sixty-six of these defaulters could not be studied for various reasons. Age and gender did not affect drug default while socio-economic factors such as caste, literacy status, social status and family system proved highly significant to default behaviour. Default was common in the joint family system, perhaps, due to lack of individual care when many members shared a common economy. Many defaults were due to family events, typically, births, deaths and marriages. Other important reasons for default were the patients’ feeling of having got well, toxicity of drug and carelessness, ignorance, financial difficulty and non-availability of drugs in TB Clinic. Suggestions to overcome the default problem include improving the general standard of living, eliminating poverty, illiteracy and backwardness, increasing patients’ awareness of the gravity of the disease and the need to take regular treatment, providing facilities for patients to continue domiciliary treatment under the supervision of the nearest medical center after initial check-up at the District TB Clinic, to avoid a long journey and expenses.

KEYWORDS: DEFAULT; SOCIO-ECONOMICS; INDIA.
 
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