Noncompliance with the World Health Organization-Multidrug Therapy Among Leprosy Patients in Cebu, Philippines: Its Causes and Implications on the Leprosy Control Program

Elsie R. Honrado, Veronica Tallo, Angelita C. Balis, Gertrude P. Chan, Sang Nae Cho

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)221-229
Number of pages9
JournalDermatologic Clinics
Volume26
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008 Apr

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Culion Foundation, Inc. study grant and the Amador R. Honrado Jr. study grant.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Dermatology

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