The Causes of Treatment Cessation in the Patients Suffering from Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Recognizing factorsinvolved in the cessation and interruption of treatmenta disease like tuberculosis are important and can help us to improve the treatment strategy and educational status of the patients. Descriptive and retrospective study the case-sheets of all pulmonary tuberculosi's patients who were referred to the Mashhad Health Center No.2 during the years 2003 to 2005 were evaluated. The total number of patients was 659. Of these patients, 534 (81%) were smear positive and 125 (19%) were smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis. Among the 534 smear-positive patients, 43 (8%) had treatment cessation or interruption. The reasons of treatment interruption were mortality due to T.B in 20 patients (3.7%), drug induced hepatitis in 11 (2%), premature sensation of well being in 2 (0.37%), hearing problems and vertigo in 2 (0.37%), multi drug resistance (MDR) tuberculosis in 2 (0.37%), purpura in 1 (0.2%), and exacerbation of renal failure in 2 (0.37%). However, 438 cases (82%) had been cured. This syudy support the effectiveness of directly Observation supported the effectiveness of directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) strategy,Efforts to improve patient's understanding of TB disease and related treatment issues should be emphasized at the initiation of therapy