Patient Adherence to Tuberculosis Treatment: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Research

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major contributor to the global burden of disease and has received considerable attention in recent years, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where it is closely associated with HIV/AIDS. Poor adherence to treatment is common despite various interventions aimed at improving treatment completion. Lack of a comprehensive and holistic understanding of barriers to and facilitators of, treatment adherence is currently a major obstacle to finding effective solutions. Nineteen electronic databases (1966–February 2005) were searched for qualitative studies on patients’, caregivers’, or health care providers’ perceptions of adherence to preventive or curative TB treatment with the free text terms ‘‘Tuberculosis AND (adherence OR compliance OR concordance)’’. A meta-ethnographic approach was followed to synthesise findings across included studies. [PLoS Medicine, July 2007].