Descriptive Study to Assess the Awareness of Tuberculosis and Adherence to DOTS Therapy Among the Tuberculosis Patients In A Selected Community, New Delhi

Abstract

Tuberculosis is an infectious bacterial disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. According to, the WHO, in 2022, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) worldwide. Tuberculosis is a
preventable and treatable disease. Proper DOTS therapy has an important role in the treatment of tuberculosis. The main purpose of this study was to assess the awareness of tuberculosis and adherence to DOTS therapy
among the tuberculosis patients in a selected community, New Delhi.
A quantitative approach with a non-experimental descriptive research design was used for this study. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection among tuberculosis patients who were 18 Years
and above from a selected community, New Delhi. The sample size was 140 tuberculosis patients, and the sampling technique used was a non-probability purposive sampling technique.
The findings of this study showed that the majority of subjects (52.85%) were partially aware, (22.85%) were fully aware and (24.28%) were not at all aware about the disease. The study also elucidates that the majority of the patients, i.e., (68.57%), were non-adherent to DOTS therapy; (25%) showed partial adherence; and only (6.42%) showed complete adherence, respectively. Though the population are partially aware of the disease tuberculosis, their adherence to DOTS therapy is not satisfactory. It was also observed that misconceptions regarding the disease still exist amongst the study population. There is a need to provide essential knowledge about tuberculosis to the general population, and stress should be laid upon making the population adherent to DOTS therapy to increase the effective outcome of the therapy.
Keywords: DOTS Therapy, Adherence, Awareness

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/0019.5138.202626

How to cite this article:
Uzma A, Bhattacharya S. Descriptive Study to Assess the Awareness of Tuberculosis and Adherence to DOTS Therapy Among the Tuberculosis Patients In A Selected Community, New Delhi. J Commun Dis. 2026;58(2):28-36.