Dodor Emmanuel Atsu, Afenyadu Godwin Yao
Communicable Diseases Unit, Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital, Box 229, Sekondi, Ghana.
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Nov;99(11):827-32. doi: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2005.06.011.
The level of defaulting from treatment among tuberculosis (TB) patients at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital between January 2000 and December 2001 was 13.9%. This study was therefore designed to assess factors associated with TB treatment default and completion at the hospital. The initial part of the study consisted of three separate focus group discussions for health workers, defaulters and non-defaulters. The information collected was used to design a questionnaire that was administered to defaulters and non-defaulters selected from the Institutional TB Register. Univariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify significant factors associated with treatment default. Statistical significance was taken as P < 0.05. Default from treatment was significantly associated with income per month (P = 0.03), ability to afford supplementary drugs (P = 0.008), availability of social support (P = 0.005) and problems relating with others while on treatment (P = 0.01). A cordial relationship between patients and health staff was the main motivating factor for completion of treatment, whilst financial difficulty was the main reason for defaulting from treatment. Determination of the characteristics found to be associated with defaulting in this study among TB patients at the start of treatment may be helpful in improving compliance among patients registered for treatment at the hospital.
2000年1月至2001年12月期间，埃菲亚 - 恩夸塔地区医院结核病患者的治疗违约率为13.9%。因此，本研究旨在评估该医院结核病治疗违约和完成治疗的相关因素。研究的初始部分包括分别针对医护人员、违约者和未违约者进行的三场焦点小组讨论。收集到的信息用于设计一份问卷，该问卷被发放给从机构结核病登记册中选取的违约者和未违约者。进行单因素逻辑回归分析以确定与治疗违约相关的显著因素。统计学显著性以P < 0.05为准。治疗违约与月收入（P = 0.03）、购买补充药物的能力（P = 0.008）、社会支持的可获得性（P = 0.005）以及治疗期间与他人的关系问题（P = 0.01）显著相关。患者与医护人员之间的融洽关系是完成治疗的主要激励因素，而经济困难是治疗违约的主要原因。在治疗开始时确定本研究中发现的与结核病患者违约相关的特征，可能有助于提高在该医院登记治疗的患者的依从性。
