title: Noncompliance with the world health organization-multidrug therapy among leprosy patients in Cebu, Philippines: its causes and implications on the leprosy control program.
abstract: The success of current World Health Organization (WHO) key strategy for leprosy elimination (ie, multidrug therapy [MDT] regimen) depends largely on the efficiency of health care delivery services and patient compliance. A high rate of noncompliance with this regimen has serious implications for the leprosy control program because it can set the stage for the emergence of drug resistance, eventually resulting in treatment failure and failure of the program. A community-based descriptive study using pretested interviews conducted in 12 leprosy endemic areas in Cebu, Philippines, showed that the noncompliance rate with the WHO-MDT regimen among 233 study subjects was 30%. The causes of noncompliance are drug-related, health care provider-triggered, or patient-inducted, or some combination of these. Recommendations on strategic interventions to obviate the cause for noncompliance are presented.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Section, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, 1731, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila, Philippines. elsierhonrado@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Elsie R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Honrado
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tallo
authors.forename: Angelita C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Balis
authors.forename: Gertrude P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Sang Nae
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007917:Leprostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007918:Leprosy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D010679:Philippines / Q000453:epidemiology; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000458:organization & administration; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D007917:Leprostatic Agents