Abstract
Title
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO NON-COMPLIANCE ON DOTS REGIMEN IN SELECTED URBAN DOTS CENTER IN BANGALORE.
Author
S. Jenifer Helen Sathya , J. Violet Jayamani, Bai Jayanti Mishra
Email
jeniferhelensathya@gmail.com
keyword
Tuberculosis, noncompliance, factors contributing, DOTS, Cat II sputum positive.
Abstract
Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health problem the world over, with a great part of its morbidity and
mortality concentrated in developing countries. The therapeutic regimens as recommended by World Health Organization
(WHO) have been shown to be highly effective for both preventing and treating tuberculosis but noncompliance to DOTS
regimen is still a problem and is the most important cause of failure of initial therapy and relapse. Noncompliance to DOTS
regimen has been cited as a major barrier to the control of TB. There are different factors responsible for the noncompliance
of TB. Hence the present study intends to identify various factors contributing to noncompliance to treatment in patients on
DOTS under RNTCP.Methods: Descriptive cross sectional research design was used in this study. The DOTS centers were
selected by convenient sampling and 96 Cat II sputum positive defaulter patients were selected by purposive sampling
technique. A semi structured interview schedule was used to obtain demographic data and factors contributing to
noncompliance to DOTS regimen. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: In the
present study 62(64%) of the subjects with category II sputum positive defaulter were in age group of more than 35 years.
Gender wise 82(85.4%) were males. The most common factor contributing to non-compliance 82(85.4%) were found to have
habit of tobacco chewing in past, 10(10.4%) believed that alternative medicine cures TB, 13(13.5%) had fear of
discrimination, 88(91.7%) had an improvement during initial treatment, 86(89.6) found hard to take too many pills at a time,
60(62.5%) experienced side effects like GI upset and 59(61.5%) fatigue. Regarding health care services 7(7.3%) waited for a
prolonged period in the clinic and 6(6.3%) travelled long distance to clinic and 4(4.2%) felt hard to reach the clinic.
Moreover, there were significant associations between selected demographic variables and alcohol consumption, health care
services, area of residence and smoking of the defaulters.Conclusion: This study provided the reasons for defaulting from
DOTS regimen and hence the need for guidance and counseling that will help to decrease the default rate and increase the
cure rate