The limits to patient compliance with directly observed therapy for tuberculosis: a socio-medical study in Pakistan.
Complying with the prescriptions of the directly observed therapy (DOT), one of the components of the Global Tuberculosis Programme of the WHO, is problematic for many patients. The factors leading to patient (non-) compliance with DOT are placed in a structural equation model. The study is based on a survey carried out in one general hospital in the Punjab province of Pakistan, amongst all sputum positive pulmonary TB patients (n = 621) who arrived at the TB unit from September 1997 to October 1998. The tested sequence of manifest variables and latent constructs shows that the social stratification perspective has to be extended by the stigmatization perspective. The advantages of universally applying DOT will increase even further when the latter perspective is involved in the analysis of non-compliance. There is a real danger that the patients reached by selective DOT will be stigmatized even more.
Meulemans
H
H
University of Antwerp, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium. herman.meulemans@ua.ac.be
Mortelmans
D
D
Liefooghe
R
R
Mertens
P
P
Zaidi
S Akbar
SA
Solangi
M Farooq
MF
De Muynck
A
A
D000328:Adult; D023801:Directly Observed Therapy; D005260:Female; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010154:Pakistan; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*