Qualitative assessment of medication adherence at an urban leprosy outpatient clinic in Hyderabad, India.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to measure medication adherence amongst outpatients attending an urban leprosy clinic in Hyderabad, India.

DESIGN: In this study of observational design, the urine spot test and Morisky Scale questionnaire were concurrently used as qualitative measures of medication adherence.

RESULTS: Fifty two patients met the inclusion criteria for this study; 13 patients (25%) were non-adherent according to the Morisky scale questionnaire and 17 patients (33%) according to the urine spot test. 48% of patients were non-adherent on the basis of the urine spot test and/or the Morisky scale questionnaire.

CONCLUSION: The results suggest that poor medication adherence remains an ongoing issue in the management of outpatients with leprosy.