Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Adherence to treatment is an important factor for the successful treatment of tuberculosis (TB). Many countries have introduced incentive mechanisms to enhance adherence. Armenia provides social support packages of food
and hygiene kits to TB patients. We aimed to evaluate the importance of the social support programme among 500 randomly selected TB patients and their physicians.
METHODS
We used a mixed-methods approach(both qualitative and quantitative) with a retrospective descriptive study design.
For the qualitative part, 40 in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 TB patients and 20 TB physicians. For the quantitative study, medical records and face-to-face interviews with 500 randomly selected TB patients and their TB doctors served as the data sources.
RESULTS
Out of 500 patients, 490 (98%) reported receiving social packages during treatment and 470 (96%) were satisfied (based on the patient’s personal perception) with them. Most of the patients preferred monetary incentives (274 [57.8%]) instead of the currently provided food and hygiene kits. Treatment
success was positively associated with satisfaction with the social support provided (odds ratio [OR]=2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0; 7.6, P=0.04), treatment interruptions that did not last longer than a week (OR=4.1, 95% CI: 2.4; 7.1, P<0.01) and having “regular” TB (OR=3.0, 95% CI: 1.7; 5.3, P<0.01).
CONCLUSION
More flexible social support packages that better address patient needs would enhance treatment adherence, which would result in better treatment outcomes and programme improvement.
