Assessment of adherence to ATT among HIV-TB co-infected patients attending the ART centre of a tertiary care hospital of Jharkhand

Background: Despite being preventable and curable, TB is the leading cause of HIV associated mortality. It is the most common opportunistic infection among HIV positive individuals with CD4 cell count <500/ mm3. Worldwide the number of people infected with both HIV & TB is rising. The objective of the study was to describe the socio-demographic profile of HIV-TB co-infected patients and to assess the adherence of HIV TB Co-infected patients to anti tubercular treatment (ATT) attending ART Centre, RIMS, Ranchi.Methods: It was a hospital based prospective study done at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi. Duration of study was 14 months. A total of 117 patients were registered during the study period and were followed up for adherence to ATT.Results: Out of 117 patients 4 were excluded. Among 113 patients, mostly were male (74.3%) and from rural background (69.9%). Majority (94.7%) of the patients came for regular follow up and took medicines as advised. Adherence was significantly associated with education (p=0.025).Conclusions: In this study it was concluded that education significantly affected adherence to ATT among HIV-TB Co-infected patients of ART Centre of RIMS, Ranchi.