Frederick A.D. Kaona|Mary Tuba|Seter Siziya|Lenganji Sikaona
An assessment of factors contributing to treatment adherence and knowledge of TB transmission among patients on TB treatment
University of Zambia|Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock
treatment guidelines tuberculosis treatment directly observed treatment shortcourse dots common strategy tb treatment zambia study carried ndola zambia investigate factors contributing treatment nonadherence knowledge tb transmission among patients tb treatment order design communitybased intervention would promote compliance householdbased survey conducted six randomly selected catchment areas ndola 400 736 patients receiving tb treatment within six months period recruited districts health management board dhmb clinics patients interviewed using pretested structured questionnaire consisting sociodemographic characteristics ii socioeconomic factors iii knowledge tb transmission prevention iv patterns health seeking behaviour v tb treatment practices household level male tb patient respondents tended older educated female tb patient respondents overall 298 patients stopped taking medication 391 females 339 males reported tb patients stopped taking medication within first 2 months commencing treatment age marital status educational levels significantly associated compliance major factors leading noncompliance included patients beginning feel better 451 386 lack knowledge benefits completing course 257 running drugs home 254 tb drugs strong 201 202 significant difference 166 95 ci 123 226 tb knowledge males females reporting sharing cups means tb transmission adjusting age marital status educational levels significantly p 0016 patients resided study less two years 59 likely report mother child transmission tb compared 412 area 2 years study established 298 tb patients failed comply tb drug taking regimen started feeling better