02653nas a2200457   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653000900065653001000074653003000084653001100114653001100125653004200136653002100178653001100199653002300210653001200233653000900245653001600254653002300270653002300293653001800316653002100334653003100355653001400386100001300400700001100413700001200424700001100436700001100447700001100458700001100469245017900480856005900659300001100718490000700729050001300736520143200749022001402181       1997                            d  c1997 Jun10aAdult10aAged10aChina10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aFamily10aFemale10aHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice10aHealth Personnel10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aPatient Compliance10aProgram evaluation10aPublic health10aRural Population10aSurveys and Questionnaires10aWorkforce1 aChen X S1 aYe G Y1 aJiang C1 aLi W Z1 aBian J1 aWang H1 aChen W00aAn investigation of attitudes, beliefs and behaviour of leprosy patients, family members and PHC workers towards multidrug therapy in Yangzhou and Dongtai Districts of China.  uhttp://leprev.ilsl.br/pdfs/1997/v68n2/pdf/v68n2a08.pdf  a155-610 v68  aCHEN19973 a<p>To improve the operational efficiency of multidrug therapy (MDT) implementation in rural areas, an investigation into the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour of leprosy patients and their family members as well as primary health care (PHC) workers towards MDT was carried out in Yangzhou and Dongtai Districts of China. A sample of 370 leprosy patients, 594 family members and 730 PHC workers was interviewed or investigated individually using questionnaires. The results showed that: 1, the presently used MDT is acceptable to a wide range of patients although a small number of patients have various problems in their treatment; 2, the patients' habit in daily drug administration, their awareness of the risk of default and confidence in MDT have a positive influence in increasing drug compliance; and 3, the supervision and encouragement of family members to patients' treatment which is associated with their knowledge on MDT is also beneficial to patients' drug compliance. However, only half of the PHC workers had a basic knowledge of MDT and a desire to participate in MDT implementation, a finding which clearly calls for urgent attention and improvement. In order to ensure the effective implementation of MDT, there is a need to educate leprosy patients and their family members as well as PHC workers to establish the patients' correct awareness of MDT, obtain the family support and motivate the PHC workers.</p>  a0305-7518