[[COMPLIANCE RATE OF STANDARD TREATMENT REGIMEN AND OPTIMAL DOSE OF ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS DRUGS IN LATE ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS].]

The proportion of the elderly in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis is increasing, and failure to complete the standard treatment regimen is not uncommon in these patients. We examined the compliance rate and prob- lems of the standard regimen in the late elderly pulmonary tuberculosis patients. [Methods] We reviewed the medical records of late elderly patients with pulmonary tuberculosis aged 75 or above who were smear-positive and treated in Kanagawa Cardiovascular and Respiratory Center between January 2011 and December 2014. Our retrospective study examined patient characteris- tics, imaging findings, laboratory results, and outcomes. The compliance rate of standard regimen during the hospitaliza- tion period was calculated. We compared the discontinua- tion rate and the incidence of adverse drug reactions by body weight equivalent doses of anti-tuberculosis drugs. [Results] A total of 298 patients were included in this study, and 76% of those patients were aged 80 or above. Anti-tuberculosis therapy was not able to be initiated for 3 patients (1%), and treatment other than standard regimen was inevitably introduced at initiation in 21 patients. The remaining 274 patients (92%) were administered the stan- dard regimen. Among them, at least one medication was subsequently discontinued for 85 patients (29%), and the medication was changed due to drug resistance in 6 patients . (2%). The remaining 183 patients (61%) complied with the standard regimen during hospitalization. In the comparison by body weight equivalent dose, significantly more patients discontinued their medication in the group using ethambutol with a higher standard dose per weight (37% vs. 21%, p=0.02). [Conclusion] Nearly 40% of the late elderly patients could not comply with the standard regimen. We may need to be more careful when calculating ethambutol equivalent dose.