The self-administration of dapsone by leprosy patients in Ethiopia.

In a second investigation of the regularity of dapsone self. administration among outpatients in Addis Ababa , the compliance of patients participating in a trial to assess the ability of combinations of dapsone, thiacetazone and rifampicin to prevent relapse with dapsone­ resistant leprosy was compared with that of non-trial patients. Despite the considerable additional time spent on encouraging the trial patients to take their treatment regularly, their level of dapsone compliance was similar to that of the non-trial patients. Only about 60% of the 295 outpatients studied appeared to be ingesting their prescribed dapsone treatment regularly and the overall level of dapsone compliance resembled that encountered in the first investigation conducted 6 years previously. The taking of thiaceta­ zone by the trial patients whose dapsone treatment was supplemented with this drug was unsatisfactory . The implications of these findings for the out­ patient treatment of lepromatous leprosy are discussed .