COMPLIANCE WITH ANTITUBERCULOSIS PREVENTIVE THERAPY AMONG 6-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

There are no published data regarding compliance with anti-tuberculosi s preventive therapy among children in Australia and limited published data worldwide. This study aimed to determine the compliance rate amo ng 6-year-old children prescribed preventive therapy for tuberculosis infection. A prospective cohort study was conducted on 78, 6-year-old children prescribed anti-tuberculosis preventive therapy. Compliance w as measured by compliance with prescribed preventive therapy as report ed by parents who were administered questionnaires on completion of th e course. In a subsample of 44 children, the proportion of children wh o complied with scheduled visits to the hospital, and pharmacy records of isoniazid dispensed were used as measures of compliance. Questionn aire data indicated a reported compliance rate for completion of the 6 -month course of preventive therapy of 70.5% (55 children). For those 55 who reported completing the full course, 91% reported missing less than 1 tablet per week. In the subsample of 44 children, only 59% atte nded all follow-up clinic visits, and 54% collected all 6 months of is oniazid prescribed. Compliance with anti-tuberculosis preventive thera py is suboptimal. Improved methods to measure compliance and strategie s to optimise compliance with preventive therapy is required.