Compliance of patients to DOTS tuberculosis treatment strategy in a South-East Nigeria Teaching Hospital

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis ranks the second highest cause of adult mortality after HIV in the world. The Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS) strategy is aimed at following up on patients' adherence to treatment regimen. OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of compliance of patients to the DOTS strategy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of patients seen at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital from January, 2013 to April, 2015. Relevant information was collected from patients' folders. Data analysis was with the SPSS and results represented in tables. RESULTS: 111 (50%) patients were compliant with their DOTS treatment plan while 107 (41.3%) were non-compliant. Ninety-two patients (41.4%) were successfully treated and discharged home, 7 patients (3.2%) referred to other centres. The proportion of patients regarding their marital status, occupation, educational level and address that was compliant to the DOTS TB reflected varied patterns. CONCLUSION/ RECOMMENDATIONS: The study reflected poor to average compliance to DOTS. There is a need for creation of more DOTS centres; regular surveys and updates on DOTS TB strategy should be the norm rather than the exception.