Assessment of Adherence to Anti-Tuberculosis Treatment among Patients with Tuberculosis in Qom Province in 2019 (Iran)

Background and Objectives: Despite the implementation of effective preventive and therapeutic programs, the expected success in reducing and controlling tuberculosis (TB) cases, has not yet been achieved. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate adherence to anti-TB drug regimen and its related factors in patients with TB in Qom province. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study, was conducted on TB patients in Qom province in 2019. According to the census method, 153 patients were entered to the study. Data were collected using 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Data were analyzed by nonparametric chi square and Spearman correlation coefficient tests using SPSS software. The significance level of the tests, was considered less than 0.05. Results: The mean and standard deviation of the score of adherence to the treatment of the patients under study, was 9.64±1.97. The results showed that 86.3% of the patients had a high adherence to the drug orders. There is a significant relationship between adherence to anti-TB drug regimen, type of disease, group therapy, HIV/AIDS, addiction, underlying disease, gender, and occupation (p<0.05). Other variables, such as clinical form of TB, nationality, residence area, and level of literacy had no effect on adherence to drug orders (p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, adherence to anti-TB drug regimen is high. The results of the causes of drug adherence, showed that direct monitoring of the treatment should be strengthened and communication with the patients should be improved.