A STUDY OF OCCURRENCE OF DRUG DEFAULTERS AND EVALUATION OF SAFETY PROFILE AMONG ANTI TUBERCULAR DRUGS

Objective: To assess the frequency of drug defaulters among patients on anti tubercular treatment along with the occurrence of drug related adverse effects. Methodology: Patients (n=35) diagnosed with tuberculosis and undergoing treatment under Directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) were enrolled based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Details of medical history and relevant investigations were filled out in a proforma sheet and revised at the end of 1st, 2nd and 3rd month of follow-up treatment. Data was analyzed by chi square test and fishers test. Results: Important factors for patient non compliance in the present study were adverse drug reactions and symptomatic improvement in patient’s health. Majority of the defaulters were males and 80% were in the age group 35-54 years. The adverse drug reactions encountered were pruritus (17.1%), nausea (11.4%) and vomiting (8.6%) and joint pain (2.9%).The study revealed that 69.2% of the patients developed adverse effects during the 1st month of treatment. Conclusion: Although not significant the present study attempts to study the adverse effects of anti tubercular drugs and the reasons behind patient non compliance. Defaulting is a major obstacle in the cure of tuberculosis and efforts to narrow this subset must be made to increase adherence to drug treatment and curtail the emergence of drug resistant strains.