Tuberc Respir Dis.  1983 Mar;30(1):17-23. 10.4046/trd.1983.30.1.17.

A Study on the Sputum Positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Discharged During Chemotherapy From Health Centers

• KMID: 2528810
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1983.30.1.17

Abstract

A study was conducted toward 3,038 sputum positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients registered at 20 health centers which were selected from 205 centers in the country from August 1977 to July 1978. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the premature discharged patients at some aspects and to improve case-management in health centers. The major findings obtained from the study were; 1. During the 12 months of treatment period, 729 patients out of 3,038 or 24.0% were prematurely discharged after registration. 2. Any specific period of discharge was not observed, accordingly supervisory activities should be encouraged_ Not only effective program operation but also improvement in the quality of the service is needed during the designated treatment period. 3. There was much difference found between the reasons of discharge recorded by health centers and actual reasons of the discharged. Therefore it is suggested that discharge procedure should be made carefully during the stipulated regular period of treatment. 4. Among the premature discharged patients, 4.4% (134 cases) died within 12 months of treatment after registration. 5. It was demonstrated that such high ratio(63. 3%) of drop-outs among premature discharged patients, was because ineffective case-management such as lack of health education or motivation, and insufficient medical service, inferring better case-management. 6. 55.0% (150 cases) out of the entire discharged patients (273 cases) continued taking antituberculosis chemotherapy even after discharge. Among those patients resumed treatment, 50.7% (76 cases) mainly depended on pharmacy, 20.0% (30 cases) private clinic, 12.0 % (18 cases) treated at health center, while 10.0% (15 cases) depended on hospital.