01807nas a2200265   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653001200059653001100071653002300082653001200105653002500117653002300142653001700165100001300182700001300195700001300208700001500221245009800236300001000334490000700344050003200351520114400383022001401527       1990                            d  c1990 Jul-Sep10aDapsone10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aLongitudinal studies10aPatient Compliance10aUrban Health1 aNaik S S1 aGole D H1 aNeet M R1 aDongre V V00aPattern of drug compliance in leprosy patients attending urban centres--a longitudinal study.  a305-90 v62  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>The pattern of drug compliance in 485 leprosy patients attending urban leprosy centres in Bombay was studied for 2 years. The study subjects included 113 patients with paucibacillary leprosy under dapsone monotherapy, 241 patients with paucibacillary leprosy under multidrug therapy and 131 patients with multibacillary leprosy under multidrug therapy. Their urine samples had been checked at least 6 times during the 2 years by DDS tile test at the time of their clinic attendance. The urine test results were not disclosed to the patients, but patients showing negative results were counselled about the need for regular drug intake. 35% of the patients were "Regular through out", 13% were "Irregular through out" and the other 52% who "Tended to be irregular" in their drug intake became "Regular" after counselling. Regularity in drug compliance was better in patients on multidrug therapy than in those on monotherapy. It is suggested that periodic testing of urine for checking for regularity of drug intake and subsequent counselling of patients should be made a routine practice to maintain drug compliance at a high level.</p>  a0254-9395