Abstract:
Abstract
Background: -Adherence is crucial in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) to achieve the required
treatment success rate. However, due to the longer treatment duration, adherence to TB treatment
is the most challenging factor affecting TB control. Although several studies have reported the
determinants of TB treatment adherence, few of them have used HBM as the guiding principle to
determine the individual perception of health-related decisions as much or more than medical
concerns with TB treatment adherence. Therefore this study aims to assess adherence to anti-TB
treatment and associated factors among adult TB patients in Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia, in
2020.
Methods: -Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the health facilities of Gondar
city from February 20 – March 26, 2020. A total of 265 TB patients were selected by systematic
random sampling techniques that were used to include patients who were on treatment follow up
for ? one month, and whose age is ?18 years. Data were collected by trained data collectors using
interviewer administer and structured questionnaires. EPI DATA version 4.6 was used for data
entry and SPSS version 24 for analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was carried out and
both crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence interval were computed. A P-value of
less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant in the final model.
Results: The overall rate of adherence to anti-TB treatment was 90.6 % within the last 4 weeks
and 96.6 % with the last 4 days. Having treatment supporter (AOR = 3.51, 95% CI (1.15, 10.75)),
difficulties in taking TB drugs regularly (AOR = 0.14, 95% CI (0.04, 0.42)), perceived benefit
(AOR = 3.45, 95% CI (1.07, 11.08)) and perceived self-efficacy (AOR = 0.22, 95% CI (0.07,
0.63)) were independently associated with adherence to anti-TB treatment.
Conclusion: - The treatment adherence rate of the patients was low in the last one month before
data survey and there was an improvement in the treatment levels when compared with previous
studies. Treatment supporter, difficulties in taking anti TB drugs regularly, perceived benefit, and
perceived self-efficacy were identified as affecting adherence to anti-TB treatment.
Key: -Treatment adherence, Health belief model, TB treatment
