Which Patients Are Able To Adhere to Tuberculosis Treatment? A Study in a Rural Area in the Northwest Part of Turkey

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases Vol. 58; no. 3; pp. 152 - 158
• Main Authors: Balbay, Oner, Annakkaya, Ali Nihat, Arbak, Peri, Bilgin, Cahit, Erbas, Mete
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases 28-06-2005
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antitubercular Agents - therapeutic use; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Compliance - statistics & numerical data; Retrospective Studies; Rural Population; Socioeconomic Factors; Tuberculosis - drug therapy; Turkey; Turkey
• ISSN: 1344-6304; 1884-2836
• DOI: 10.7883/yoken.JJID.2005.152

The purpose of this study was to investigate various factors, including demographical, socio-economical, clinical and radiological features, of adherent and nonadherent patients with tuberculosis (TB) who were admitted to a university hospital between 1998 and 2003. One hundred and one patients (65.5%) and 53 patients (34.5%) met the criteria of adherence and nonadherence, respectively. A higher rate of adherence was observed among females than males (79.2 versus 58.4%, respectively, P = 0.012). Older patients were more nonadherent (P = 0.008). The adherence rate in non-smokers was significantly higher than that of smokers (81.4 and 52.4%, respectively, P = 0.000). Patients who underwent “family screening” were more adherent (75.7%) than those (39.5%) who did not (P = 0.000). Patients with pleurisy had higher adherence rates (81.3%), followed by patients with pulmonary TB (65.0%), while patients with extrarespiratory TB had the lowest adherence rates (45.5%) (P = 0.024). The presence of cough was significantly associated with adherence (P = 0.049). A significantly higher adherence rate was observed in patients without hemoptysis (P = 0.001). A univariate logistic regression confirmed that age, smoking, family screening, type of TB, cough and hemoptysis had significant independent effects on the adherence to treatment of TB. High-risk patients may be identified and interventions tailored to promote adherence before concluding that the patient is willfully refusing treatment.