Assessment of Anti-TB Drug Nonadherence and Associated Factors among TB Patients Attending TB Clinics in Arba Minch Governmental Health Institutions, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Nonadherence to anti-TB treatment may result in the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB, prolonged infectiousness, and poor tuberculosis treatment outcomes. Ethiopia is one of the seven countries that reported lower rates of treatment success (84%). This study assessed anti-TB drug nonadherence and associated factors among TB patients in Arba Minch governmental health institutions. Methods. An institution based cross-sectional study design was conducted from April 15 to May 30, 2017. A systematic sampling technique was employed to select the study subjects. Data was collected using a semistructured questionnaire with Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8) and was entered, cleaned, and analyzed in SPSS version 20. Results. The study included 271 TB patients with a response rate of 96.4%; 58.3% were males and 64.9% were Gamo by ethnicity. The overall nonadherence was 67 (24.7%) (CI = 20.0–30.4). Nonadherence was high if the patients experienced side effects (AOR = 13.332; 95% CI = 2.282–77.905), were far from the health facility (AOR = 21.830; 95% CI = 0.054–77.500), and experienced prolonged waiting time to get medical services (AOR = 14.260; 95% CI = 2.135–95.241). Conclusions. The proportion of TB patients that did not adhere to anti-TB drugs was high in Arba Minch governmental health institutions.