Abstract
INTRODUCTION
As part of a programme providing care for patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) in Armenia, participation in therapeutic patient education (TPE) is proposed to patients when they start treatment.
OBJECTIVES
To assess the usefulness, reliability and ease of use of a patient skills evaluation system, and to determine whether and how these skills change after TPE.
METHODS
A total of 70 patients were assessed before TPE and after a minimum of one TPE session using a pedagogical evaluation tool. A structured questionnaire was administered to 10 educators who participated in the patient skills evaluation.
RESULTS
The evaluation system was perceived by educators as well-adapted to identifying further learning needs, and as reliable and easy to use. After TPE we observed a 23.7% mean gain in knowledge (p< 0.001) and an improvement in the quality of information given by patients to their social group, both about their disease and the risk of transmission. Self-efficacy, already high at the pre-TPE evaluation, did not change after TPE.
CONCLUSIONS
DR-TB patients’ skills, other than self-efficacy, improved after TPE. Recommendations to improve the quality of the evaluation system are given.
