TUBERCULOSIS: ADHERENCE TO TREATMENT AND THE FACTORS THAT CAUSE PATIENTS TO QUIT IT ABSTRACT

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis is an infectious disease, characterized as a world emergency. The treatment for this disease in Brazil is offered by the Public Health System (SUS in the Brazilian Portuguese acronym) free of any charge. The abandonment of treatment is one of the aspects that most affects the increase in mortality, incidence and increased resistance to drugs. Knowing the factors of accession and abandonment of the tuberculosis treatment can guide the development of health practices in the control of the disease. Objective: To describe the factors of accession and abandonment of the tuberculosis treatment, according to the national literature. Methodology: This is a descriptive systematic bibliographic review , with a qualitative approach, through online search in the Virtual Health Library (VHL), being included articles available in full text, published in Portuguese; and being excluded those which did not cover the selected theme, articles common in the searched databases and bibliographical reviews. Results: The main factors of accession found were the access to free medication, the consultation in less than 24 hours and  the sponsoring by the government of the public transportation to reach the clinic and basic food supplies. The factors that caused the patients to quit were the accessibility, the use of legal and illegal drugs, especially alcohol, lower degrees of formal education, tuberculosis/HIV co-infection, belonging to lower socioeconomic classes and the adverse effects of the medications. Final considerations: So that more patients do not quit the treatment it is necessary to have more trained professionals, adequate availability of services, in addition to medications and aid distributed in satisfactory quantities and duration. With these incentives, it is expected to create an effective demand for the service and the continuity of the treatment until the end of it, leading to the cure of the patients.