Defaulters of Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS): Extent and Associated Sociodemograohic Factors

Dr. Prabhakar Hiwarkar; Dr. Vilas Malkar

Volume : VII, Issue : VIII, August - 2017

Defaulters of Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS): Extent and Associated Sociodemograohic Factors

Dr. Prabhakar Hiwarkar, Dr. Vilas Malkar

Abstract :

Introduction: India is a country with the highest burden of TB. Poor patient adherence to the treatment regimen is a major cause of treatment failure and of the emergence of drug–resistant TB. Aims and Objectives: to determine the extent of non–adherence (defaulter rate) and various socioeconomic factors associated with non–adherence of DOTS treatment. Material and Methods: Observational type of descriptive study was conducted at Akola TU. All tuberculosis patients registered and treated during the period of last four years with (DOTS) regimen were included under study. Data was obtained from tuberculosis (TB) register maintained at TU. Observation: 212 (11.01%) out of 1926 TB patients who were put on DOTS regimen defaulted the treatment. Male gender, higher age, pulmonary type of disease and previous TB treatment were found to be significantly associated with the likelihood of nonadherence to the treatment under DOTS.