Cost of DOTS for tuberculous patients.

OBJECTIVE To determine the cost of DOTS (directly observed therapy short course) incurred by the patients. METHODS A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted at Nazimabad Chest Clinic and Ojha Center for Chest Diseases from January 2005 to July 2005. Two hundred and twenty tuberculous patients with acid-fast bacilli positive in their sputum were analyzed. Variables for cost were assessed with respect to money and time. RESULTS Most of the tuberculous patients (68%) registered during the data collection period were females. Thirty seven percent of the patients belonged to families with 8-10 family members living under one roof. The expense of direct cost for two months treatment was Rs. 3060-3600 (if patient was not buying the anti-tuberculous drugs). Most of the patients who were on DOTS spent more than 4 hours per day in obtaining the therapy. The disease was found to be common in poor families (75% of patients had total monthly income less than Rs. 2000). CONCLUSION Tuberculosis was common in poor and large-sized families. Time consumption on travel for DOTS was a deterrent for compliance. DOTS coverage should be modified to reduce time and financial cost for the patients.