REASONS OF ABANDONMENT TREATMENT IN PATIENTS WITH LEISHMANIASIS

Abstract

The goals of this study that examined patients with Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) who were diagnosed and treated at the Sanliurfa Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Diagnosis and Treatment Center (SCLDTC), were to determine the frequency of treatment discontinuation and the reasons for discontinuation. This was a descriptive study that included individuals who visited the SCLDTC for diagnosis and treatment in 2020 and were diagnosed with CL. The study’s data collection phase took place between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. The study comprised 370 patients who were diagnosed with CL and under treatment as of January 1, 2020. It was found that 187 of these patients discontinued treatment. The frequency of treatment discontinuation was 50.5%. Of those who discontinued treatment, 50.8% were women. It was determined that 3.7% of those who discontinued treatment did not speak Turkish, and 41.1% had not received formal education. Among the patients who discontinued treatment, 21.4% had no job, and 83.9% belonged to the lower socioeconomic status and unemployed group. Of those who discontinued treatment, 54.6% stopped before completing the first course, while 39,0% did not attend the follow-up examination after completing the first course. In cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis, the most common reasons for discontinuing treatment were believing that they do not require treatment (28.9%), disregarding the disease (27.3%), and a lack of medication in SCLDTC (26.7%). In the present study, the most common reasons for discontinuing treatment were a lack of belief in the necessity for treatment, disregarding the disease, and a shortage of medication. Patients’ and society’s knowledge and awareness of CL should be increased, public education programs should be organized, patients admitted to SCLDTC and their relatives should be informed, and the importance of completing the treatment should be explained, especially in neighborhoods where CL cases are densely distributed.