An Ethnographic Study on the Factors Affecting Adherence to Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course in Typical Indian Settings

摘要

Efficient management of chronic illness remains a common clinical problem. Non-adherence to a prescribed medical regimen remains a tremendous barrier to the effective medical management of chronic diseases and is considered one of the most serious problems that the medical world faces in the present. Tuberculosis is one such chronic disease which has been a prevalent problem in most of the developing nations, including India. In this paper, we describe an ethnographic study conducted in the state of Assam, with the objective of deciphering the multiple factors that are associated with the failure of the treatment regimen of Tuberculosis, viz. the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short course) programme under RNTCP (Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme).