Adherence to Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine Treatment among Patients with Uncomplicated Malaria in Northern Ghana.

Adherence to Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine Treatment among Patients with Uncomplicated Malaria in Northern Ghana. J Trop Med. 2019;2019:5198010 Authors: Oduro AR, Chatio S, Beeri P, Anyorigiya T, Baiden R, Adongo P, Akweongo P Abstract Treatment adherence has been described as the process whereby patients take medications, follow diet, and effect other lifestyle changes that relate to agreed recommendations from healthcare providers. The determinants of such treatment adherence include patient, the health condition, therapy type, socioeconomic conditions, and the healthcare system. The study examined adherence in malaria patients treated with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine in routine clinical care in northern Ghana. The study was conducted in Navrongo Health Research Centre in the Kassena-Nankana district of northern Ghana. Patients confirmed with uncomplicated malaria were prescribed dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine in blister packs to be taken daily for three days. Follow-up visits were made on days 3 and 28 after diagnosis to collect data on adherence, drug safety and therapeutic effectiveness. During follow-up visits, in-depth interviews were conducted and the blister packs directly observed for the number of tablets remaining. The in-depth interviews documented day-by-day account of doses taken, number of tablets taken during each dose, time of each dose, reasons for any leftover or missed dose, and whether or not there was vomit...
Source: Journal of Tropical Medicine - Category: Tropical Medicine Tags: J Trop Med Source Type: research