Tuberculosis medication adherence in a secondary care center in SouthEastern Nigeria

Abstract

Adherence to a treatment strategy known as Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS) by patients diagnosed of tuberculosis is essential in the effective treatment of the disease. This is in order to avoid recurrence, resistance and complications that results from non-adherence. This paper assessed the adherence to anti-tuberculosis medications among tuberculosis patients in a secondary healthcare facility in Anambra State, Nigeria. This was a descriptive crosssectional study and a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used. The study population comprised of tuberculosis patients who has been on anti-TB medications for at least four weeks at the Tuberculosis clinic. A systematic random sampling technique was used to enrol the respondents into the study. The mean age of the respondents was 39.68±16.66 years. Majority of the respondents correctly alluded to tuberculosis as being caused by bacteria (91.7%); and that the duration of treatment was at least six months (100.0%). A great proportion of the respondents affirmed that a vaccine is available for prevention of tuberculosis infection (91.7%); also all the respondents agreed that covering mouth and nose while coughing/sneezing is a preventive measure of TB spread (100.0%). About 15.2% of the respondents sometimes stop taking their medications when they feel their health condition is under control, however, a great proportion of the respondents had good adherence to medications (76.0%). Major reasons for missing medication among the non-adherent were that they forgot (91.8%) and that there were too much medication to take at once (1.2%). Statistically significant associations existed between drug adherence and age, sex and educational qualification; as respondents within the age range of 60-69 years, female and those who had completed tertiary education had better adherence to anti-TB medications. TB medication non-adherence is a potential risk factor for poor health outcomes, hence more effort is needed to increase the rate of adherence.