Coverage and compliance assessment survey following lymphatic filariasis mass drug administration in Warangal, Telangana

Abstract

Background: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) impairs the lymphatic system causing pain and physical disability. A total of 859 million people in 50 countries require preventive chemotherapy to stop the infection. Mass drug administration (MDA) strategy was started to eliminate LF by 2020. In India, filariasis is endemic in 257 districts. Hence, this study aimed to assess the coverage and compliance following MDA toward filariasis in Warangal. Objective: The objective was to estimate the coverage rate, compliance rate, effective coverage rate, and coverage compliance gap of MDA toward filariasis in Warangal. Materials and Methods: The study was done in Warangal district, in which four clusters were chosen. The multistage sampling technique was adopted. Four villages were selected randomly from four PHCs. Each village included 30 households. All household members were interviewed with pretested, semi-structured questionnaire. Data were entered in Excel, and descriptive statistics were used. Results: In total, 476 were eligible for MDA administration. The total coverage rate was 80.4%, total compliance rate was 94.2%, effective coverage rate was 75.8%, and coverage compliance gap was 5.7%. The most common reason for nonconsumption was people thought that drug was not needed. The side effect after consumption was 1.6%. Conclusion: The overall coverage rate (80.4%) was less than the recommended level (85%) for the elimination of LF. The compliance rate was 94.2%, which says that most of the people consumed the tablet. Effective coverage (75.8%) reflects the actual coverage which has to be improved. One of the reasons for not consuming the tablet was fear of side effects, but only 1.6% had side effect.

Keywords

• compliance
• coverage
• lymphatic filariasis
• mass drug administration
• warangal