CHAPTER IV - TREATMENT BEHAVIOUR OF TB PATIENTS <<Back
 
b) Measures to Improve Treatment Adherence
 
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AU : Hill JP & Ramachandran G
TI : A simple scheme to improve compliance in patients taking tuberculosis medication.
SO : TROP DOCT 1992, 22, 161-163.
DT : Per
AB :

Compliance with prescribed treatment remains a major problem in the control of TB, worldwide. A simple method of improving patient compliance with hospital-based treatment is described. Eighty-two patients paid a deposit at the start of their treatment which entitled them to cheaper drugs and was refundable on completion of the prescribed course. Sixty-two percent of patients completed the course compared with 23 percent of retrospective controls. A direct relationship was found between the amount of deposit paid and the rate of completion. Reasons why poor patients (who paid a lower deposit) may default include lack of understanding of the need for prolonged treatment due to inadequate education, poverty or low-income, preventing travel to the hospital and/ or paying for consultation and medication. Using a short regimen (2RHZ/4RH) for those who have never had previous TB treatment (and are therefore, unlikely to have resistance) and offering a cheaper regimen (2RHZ/10TH) to poorer patients, provided three sputum samples are negative for AFB at two months, would benefit even defaulters. It is recommended that similar schemes be assessed elsewhere.

KEYWORDS: COMPLIANCE; UK.
 
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