Barriers to Optimal Tuberculosis Treatment Services at Community Health Centers: A Qualitative Study From a High Prevalent Tuberculosis Country

Exploring opportunities to strengthen rural tuberculosis health service delivery: a qualitative study with health workers in Tibet autonomous region, China

OBJECTIVES

This qualitative study aimed to explore opportunities to strengthen tuberculosis (TB) health service delivery from the perspectives of health workers providing TB care in Shigatse prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region, China.

DESIGN

Qualitative research, semi-structured in-depth interviews.

SETTING

The TB care ecosystem in Shigatse, including primary and community care.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants: 37 semi-structured interviews were conducted with village doctors (14), township doctors and nurses (14), county hospital doctors (7) and Shigatse Centre for Disease Control staff (2).

RESULTS

The three main themes reported include (1) the importance of training primary and community health workers to identify people with symptoms of TB, ensure TB is diagnosed and link people with TB to further care; (2) the need to engage community health workers to ensure retention in care and adherence to TB medications; and (3) the opportunity for innovative technologies to support coordinated care, retention in care and adherence to medication in Shigatse.

CONCLUSIONS

The quality of TB care could be improved across the care cascade in Tibet and other high-burden, remote settings by strengthening primary care through ongoing training, greater support and inclusion of community health workers and by leveraging technology to create a circle of care. Future formative and implementation research should include the perspectives of health workers at all levels to improve care organisation and delivery.

Characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacy personnel in supporting tuberculosis treatment: A multicenter cross-sectional study in a high-burden tuberculosis country

BACKGROUND

Positive roles of community pharmacy in tuberculosis (TB) care have been widely reported. However, the actual practice of supporting TB treatment is not optimal yet.

OBJECTIVES

We analyzed the current practice of community pharmacy personnel and its factors in supporting the successful treatment of TB patients in Indonesia, aiming to develop strategies for effective and sustainable TB practice models for the community pharmacy.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional survey in 3 areas representing Indonesia's eastern, central, and western parts. Development and validation of the questionnaire were conducted to assess 4 domains, that is, characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practice of community pharmacy personnel in supporting the successful treatment of TB patients. Data were collected with purposive convenience sampling using online and offline questionnaires. Descriptive analyses were used to summarize factors in each domain, while binary logistic regression was used to analyze the associated factors of the practice.

RESULTS

Thirty-five questionnaire items indicated a valid instrument, and the study successfully included 844 participants who comprised pharmacists (n = 473, 56%) and pharmacy assistants (n = 371, 44%). Although most of the knowledge items were correctly answered by more than 60% of the participants, items related to TB signs, risk groups, drug regimens, and medicine uses were still less than 60%. This was in line with exposure to updated TB training in only 51% of the participants (n = 426). Most of the participants had a positive attitude toward their professional role (n = 736, 87%), capability (n = 646, 77%), and consequences (n = 655, 78%) in supporting TB treatment. However, this was not aligned with the actual practice of supporting TB treatment, intensively performed by only 1.3% of participants (n = 11). We identified several factors associated with the practice, that is, a pharmacy assistant background (P < 0.05), short working time (P < 0.05), experience in TB training (P < 0.001), and a positive attitude (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

This study highlighted a limited number of community pharmacy personnel intensively practicing as TB treatment supporters in Indonesia. An interventional package considering the identified factors is needed to develop effective and sustainable practices in the real world.

The Interplay between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Human Microbiome

Tuberculosis (TB), a respiratory disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is a significant cause of mortality worldwide. The lung, a breeding ground for Mtb, was once thought to be a sterile environment, but has now been found to host its own profile of microbes. These microbes are critical in the development of the host immune system and can produce metabolites that aid in host defense against various pathogens. Mtb infection as well as antibiotics can shift the microbial profile, causing dysbiosis and dampening the host immune response. Additionally, increasing cases of drug resistant TB have impacted the success rates of the traditional therapies of isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol. Recent years have produced tremendous research into the human microbiome and its role in contributing to or attenuating disease processes. Potential treatments aimed at altering the gut-lung bacterial axis may offer promising results against drug resistant TB and help mitigate the effects of TB.

Development and validation of a structured questionnaire for assessing risk factors of medication non-adherence among pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Indonesia

Background: Medication non-adherence is a significant concern in tuberculosis (TB) treatment, requiring a precise understanding of the associated risk factors. However, there is a lack of appropriate means to assess the risk factors among TB patients in Indonesia, leading to the development and validation of a structured questionnaire for this purpose. Method: This study unfolded in two distinct phases, namely, the first included questionnaire construction through framework development, item generation, item screening, and pretesting (in 50 patients). The second comprised questionnaire validation with 346 participants using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling-partial least squares (SEM-PLS). Additionally, reliability testing was conducted using Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability statistical techniques. Results: In the development phase, 168 items were defined, consisting of sociodemographic characteristics (8 items) and risk factors for medication non-adherence (160 items). Expert evaluation reduced the number of items to 60, which decreased to 22 after performing a pilot study. Subsequent SEM-PLS modeling resulted in the identification of 14 valid items, representing five major risk factors, namely, socioeconomics (4 items), healthcare team (4 items), condition (3 items), therapy (2 items), and patient (1 item). Only condition-related factors were found to influence non-adherence, and all constructs showed good reliability based on Cronbach's alpha (>0.6) and composite reliability (0.7) values. Conclusion: The final 22 items that emerged from this rigorous process indicated a valid and robust questionnaire for assessing risk factors of medication non-adherence among pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Indonesia. The developed questionnaire was positioned to be a valuable tool for healthcare professionals, policymakers, and scientists in creating patient-centered strategies and interventions to address non-adherence.

Care pathways of individuals with tuberculosis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bandung, Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic is thought to have undone years' worth of progress in the fight against tuberculosis (TB). For instance, in Indonesia, a high TB burden country, TB case notifications decreased by 14% and treatment coverage decreased by 47% during COVID-19. We sought to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on TB case detection using two cross-sectional surveys conducted before (2018) and after the onset of the pandemic (2021). These surveys allowed us to quantify the delays that individuals with TB who eventually received treatment at private providers faced while trying to access care for their illness, their journey to obtain a diagnosis, the encounters individuals had with healthcare providers before a TB diagnosis, and the factors associated with patient delay and the total number of provider encounters. We found some worsening of care seeking pathways on multiple dimensions. Median patient delay increased from 28 days (IQR: 10, 31) to 32 days (IQR: 14, 90) and the median number of encounters increased from 5 (IQR: 4, 8) to 7 (IQR: 5, 10), but doctor and treatment delays remained relatively unchanged. Employed individuals experienced shorter delays compared to unemployed individuals (adjusted medians: -20.13, CI -39.14, -1.12) while individuals whose initial consult was in the private hospitals experienced less encounters compared to those visiting public providers, private primary care providers, and informal providers (-4.29 encounters, CI -6.76, -1.81). Patients who visited the healthcare providers >6 times experienced longer total delay compared to those with less than 6 visits (adjusted medians: 59.40, 95% CI: 35.04, 83.77). Our findings suggest the need to ramp up awareness programs to reduce patient delay and strengthen private provide engagement in the country, particularly in the primary care sector.

Development and Validation of the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Questionnaire for Community Pharmacy Personnel in Tuberculosis Case Detection, Drug Monitoring, and Education: A Study from Indonesia

Background

Validated and standardized structured questionnaires based on psychometric analysis are extremely limited, particularly for assessing community pharmacy personnel's knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) in tuberculosis (TB) case detection, drug monitoring, and education. We, therefore, developed and validated a questionnaire to assess the KAP of community pharmacy personnel in TB case detection, drug monitoring, and community education.

Methods

This study was conducted in two phases. First, we developed the questionnaire, which included framework development, item generation, individual item content validity index (I-CVI), item screening, and pre-testing. Second, we validated the questionnaire with 400 participants using various analyses, including participant analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI), comparative fit index (CFI), non-normed fit index (NNFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR). We determined the reliability test using Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability using Pearson's correlation.

Results

In the development phase, we defined 63 items that comprised 18 sociodemographic, 18 knowledge, 18 attitude, and 9 practice items. Across the 63 items, the I-CVI scores of sociodemographic and KAP items were one each. The CFA model parameter values were X²/df= 2.28; AGFI = 0.95; CFI = 0.99; NNFI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.06; and SRMR = 0.03 (p < 0.05 for all). Cronbach's alpha coefficients of KAP items were 0.75, 0.91, and 0.95, respectively. The test-retest reliability coefficients of KAP were 0.84, 0.55, and 0.91, respectively (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

This study indicates that the developed questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the KAP of community pharmacy personnel for TB case detection, drug monitoring, and community education in Indonesia. Community pharmacy personnel can support TB notification and treatment by assessing their prospective roles in surveys using this questionnaire, enabling TB eradication in 2030.

Feasibility of implementing public-private mix approach for tuberculosis case management in Pokhara Metropolitan City of western Nepal: a qualitative study

Background

The Public-Private Mix (PPM) approach is a strategic initiative that involves engaging all private and public health care providers in the fight against tuberculosis using international health care standards. For tuberculosis control in Nepal, the PPM approach could be a milestone. This study aimed to explore the barriers to a public-private mix approach in the management of tuberculosis cases in Nepal.

Methods

We conducted key informant interviews with 20 participants, 14 of whom were from private clinics, polyclinics, and hospitals where the PPM approach was used, two from government hospitals, and four from policymakers. All data were audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. The transcripts of the interviews were manually organized, and themes were generated and categorized into 1. TB case detection, 2. patient-related barriers, and 3. health-system-related barriers.

Results

A total of 20 respondents participated in the study. Barriers to PPM were identified into following three themes: (1) Obstacles related to TB case detection, (2) Obstacles related to patients, and (3) Obstacles related to health-care system. PPM implementation was challenged by following sub-themes that included staff turnover, low private sector participation in workshops, a lack of trainings, poor recording and reporting, insufficient joint monitoring and supervision, poor financial benefit, lack of coordination and collaboration, and non-supportive TB-related policies and strategies.

Conclusion

Government stakeholders can significantly benefit by applying a proactive role working with the private in monitoring and supervision. The joint efforts with private sector can then enable all stakeholders to follow the government policy, practice and protocols in case finding, holding and other preventive approaches. Future research are essential in exploring how PPM could be optimized.

Practical Models of Pharmaceutical Care for Improving Tuberculosis Patient Detection and Treatment Outcomes: A Systematic Scoping Review

Decreasing global tuberculosis (TB) notifications indicate problems related to TB patient detection and treatment outcomes. Pharmaceutical care (PC) has potential roles in managing these issues. However, PC practices have not yet become widespread in the real world. This systematic scoping review aimed to identify and analyze the current literature on practical models of pharmaceutical care for improving tuberculosis patient detection and treatment outcomes. We then discussed the present challenges and future considerations for the successful implementation of PC services in TB. A systematic scoping review was performed to identify the practice models of PC in TB. Systematic searches and screening were used to identify relevant articles in the PubMed and Cochrane databases. We then discussed the challenges and recommendations for successful implementation using a framework to improve professional healthcare practice. Our analysis included 14 of 201 eligible articles. We identified that the focuses in the PC of TB are on increasing patient detection (four articles) and improving TB treatment outcomes (ten articles). Practices cover services in the community and hospital settings, such as screening and referring people with presumptive TB, tuberculin test services, collaborative practices for treatment completion, directly observed treatment, the solution of drug-related problems, reporting and managing adverse drug reactions, and medication adherence programs. Although PC services positively increase TB patient detection and treatment outcomes, hidden challenges in the actual practice are analyzed. Several factors should be comprehensively considered in successful implementation, such as guidelines, individual pharmacy personnel, patient, professional interaction, organizational capacity, regulation, incentive, and resource factors. Hence, a collaborative PC program that involves all related stakeholders should be considered to create successful and sustainable PC services in TB.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of community pharmacy personnel in tuberculosis patient detection: a multicentre cross-sectional study in a high-burden tuberculosis setting

INTRODUCTION

Control of tuberculosis (TB) is hampered by suboptimal case detection and subsequent delays in treatment, which is worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The community pharmacy is reported as the place for first aid medication among patients with TB. We, therefore, analysed knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on TB patient detection (TBPD) of community pharmacy personnel, aiming to find innovative strategies to engage community pharmacies in TBPD.

METHODS

A multicentre cross-sectional study was performed in four areas of Indonesia's eastern, central and western parts. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who worked in community pharmacies were assessed for their characteristics and KAP related to TBPD. Descriptive analysis was used to assess participant characteristics and their KAP, while multivariable regression analyses were used to analyse factors associated with the KAP on TBPD.

RESULTS

A total of 1129 participants from 979 pharmacies, comprising pharmacists (56.6%) and pharmacy technicians (43.4%), were included. Most participants knew about TB. However, knowledge related to TB symptoms, populations at risk and medication for TB were still suboptimal. Most participants showed a positive attitude towards TBPD. They believed in their professional role (75.1%), capacity in TB screening (65.4%) and responsibility for TBPD (67.4%). Nevertheless, a lack of TBPD practice was identified in most participants. Several factors significantly associated with performing the TBPD practice (p<0.05), such as TB training experience (p<0.001), provision of a drug consultation service (p<0.001), male gender (p<0.05), a positive attitude towards TBPD (p<0.001), short working hours (p<0.001) and central city location of the pharmacy (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Most participants had good knowledge and attitude, which did not translate into actual TBPD practice. We identified that TB educational programmes are essential in improving the KAP. A comprehensive assessment is needed to develop effective strategies to engage the community pharmacy in TBPD activities.