A STUDY OF STATUS OF RETRIEVAL MECHANISM FOR PATIENTS TAKING ANTITUBERCULAR TREATMENT UNDER NTEP

Abstract

Introduction--A observational study was conducted in the Department Of Respiratory Medicine in a tertiary care centre who were taking ATT under DOTS or had history of ATTconsumption in the past. Aim :Aim of the study was to evaluate the status of a retrieval mechanism for patients who are lost to follow-up and to identify the strengths and weakness in the dispersal of medications, monitoring and follow-up of patients and status of retrieval mechanism. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out among 201 patients coming to the Department of Respiratory Medicine who were on ATTunder DOTS or had received ATTin the past. Demographic details and clinical ndings were noted. Data collected was entered into Excel spread sheet and quantitative data were expressed as number and percentage. Results- Among 201 participants 17.4% missed their doses whereas 82.6% of the participants took their medications regularly. Among the patients who missed their doses retrieval actions were taken in only 42.9%participants.Among those participants in whom retrieval actions were taken 14.3% were lost to follow up,97.14 % of the participants who missed their doses received multiple days medications. Besides this, 80% of the participants who missed their doses suffered from adverse effects of ATTduring their course of treatment. Conclusion—From this study we conclude that under NTEPmajority of patients are taking ATT regularly but regular follow-up of patients on ATT and retrieval action is not upto the mark and it should be strengthened to prevent development of DRTB and its spread in the community.