Patients' perceptions about the implementation of Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme of India.

INTRODUCTION: Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) was launched by the Government of India in 1993. The present study has attempted to analyze the perceptions of patients regarding the implementation of RNTCP.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was done in a teaching hospital in North India. All patients attending the hospital between March 2014 and July 2014 were included. The study design was cross-sectional using a pre-designed and tested questionnaire. The patients were questioned by personal interviews after obtaining an informed verbal consent.

RESULTS: 74.5% patients were not aware about the kind of disease they were suffering from. 80% patients said that they were not talked in detail about their disease. 64.79% patients said that their doctor was the source of knowledge regarding DOTS prior to treatment. Despite an average distance of 4.75km between their home and DOTS centre, 90.5% patients said that they did not have any problem in travelling to the DOTS centre for medications. 91.5% and 93.5% patients felt the DOT provider behaviour was supportive and satisfactory respectively.

CONCLUSION: 64% patients said that they were completely satisfied with the treatment under DOTS, 28.5% were partially satisfied and 7.5% were not satisfied with the treatment.