A study of patients 'lost' from short course chemotherapy under district tuberculosis programme

A study was undertaken in North Arcot and Raichur districts in South India to find out the reasons for patients getting ‘lost’ from short course chemotherapy. There were 545 (40%) patients ‘lost’ from treatment in North Arcot during 14 months and 219 (46%) in Raichur during 72 months. Approximately half of the ‘lost’ patients from both the districts discontinued treatment within two months from the start of treatment. Due to inadequate or incorrect address, 84 (15%) and 26 (13%) patients could not be traced at North Arcot and Raichur, respectively. Reasons could not be elicited from 39 (7%) and 16 (7%) patients, respectively, as they had migrated. Eighty-two (15%) from North Arcot and 33 (15%) from Raichur had died. For 55 (10%) patients from North Arcot and 15 (7%) from Raichur treatment had been changed. Twenty -three (4%) from North Arcot had actually completed their treatment at a different Peripheral Health Institution. Reasons for stopping treatment were obtained from 262 (48%) and 127 (58%) patients, respectively, from the two districts. Abatement of symptoms (19%, 35%), adverse reactions (22%, 13%), outstation trips (22%, 2%), lack of faith in diagnosis and treatment (10%, 27%) and taking private treatment (9%, 32%) were some of the reasons given by the patients Interviewed respectively from these two districts . Some of the patients gave more than one reason