Qualitative assessment of medication adherence at an urban leprosy outpatient clinic in Hyderabad, India.

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to measure medication adherence amongst outpatients attending an urban leprosy clinic in Hyderabad, India. DESIGN In this study of observational design, the urine spot test and Morisky Scale questionnaire were concurrently used as qualitative measures of medication adherence. RESULTS Fifty two patients met the inclusion criteria for this study; 13 patients (25%) were non-adherent according to the Morisky scale questionnaire and 17 patients (33%) according to the urine spot test. 48% of patients were non-adherent on the basis of the urine spot test and/or the Morisky scale questionnaire. CONCLUSION The results suggest that poor medication adherence remains an ongoing issue in the management of outpatients with leprosy.