Relationship of Personal- Social and Therapeutic Factors with Medication Compliance in TB Patients in Ahwaz

Despite the implementation of DOTS strategy, TB remains one of the ten leading causes of death in developing countries. Compliance with treatment is affected by social, cultural, and economic factors, and patients’ knowledge and attitude as well. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between compliance with treatment and personal, social and therapeutic factors in TB patients in Ahwaz. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 167 TB patients. Subjects were selected based on target. The data were collected using a questionnaire, and by observation, sputum analysis, and Kvzart Ponce urine test. The validity of the questionnaire was tested by the method of content validity, and its internal consistency and reliability was tested by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analyzed by SpSS. Among all subjects, 52.7% of patients showed complete compliance and 35.2% and 12% of them showed partial and poor compliance, respectively. There was a significant relationship between treatment compliance and gender(p=0.009), quality of monthly income(p=0.007), and addiction(p=0.001). The quality of treatment compliance was not significantly related to age, marital status, educational level, ethnicity, and medical complications. The findings showed that Incomplete treatment of TB is much worse than not treating it, because the lack of precision in the administration and consumption of anti-tuberculosis drugs, leads to the emergence of resistant TB. Paying attention to the factors decreasing treatment compliance and trying to eliminate them may lead to better treatment and lower incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis in the community.