Abstract

Background: Mass drug administration (MDA) means administration of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) tablet to all people (excluding children <2 years, pregnant women, seriously ill persons) in endemic areas once in a year is one of the strategies to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.
Objective: To assess the coverage and compliance of MDA and factors for noncompliance.
Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional house-to-house visit was carried out in endemic district Chhatarpur. Three rural and one urban clusters of Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, we selected as per National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme guidelines. A predesigned questionnaire was used to collect information regarding consumption of DEC and other relevant information. Actual coverage, compliance, effective coverage, coverage–compliance gap (CCG), reasons for noncompliance, side effects, if any, were studied. SPSS, version 11.5, for Windows was used for statistical analysis.
Results: A total of 120 households surveyed yielded 643 eligible population. Coverage rate was 78.84%, and compliance rate, CCG, effective coverage rate was 76.52%, 23.48%, and 60.34%, respectively. It was found that 255 persons did not consume the drug. Out of 255, 53.3% did not receive drug. Fear of side effects and loose tablet distribution (low quality of drug) were the most common reasons found for nonconsumption in rural and urban areas, respectively. Persuasion for consumption of drug by a drug distributor (DD) was found in only 35% households. Only 11.67% household had prior information regarding MDA. Information, education, and communication (audiovisual aids) activity reached to only 31.67% households. Side effects were experienced by 4.4%. Conclusion: Both coverage and drug compliance need to be improved. Issues like fear of side effects should be addressed through effective behavior change communication strategies.