Association Between Treatment Adherence and Quality of Life of Tuberculosis Patients at TB-DOTS Polyclinic

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading cause of death from infectious diseases worldwide.The level of treatment adherence of TB patients is closely related to the quality of life. This study aims to analyze the association between treatment  adherence and quality of life of pulmonary TB patients.

Method: This was an analytical observational study with a cross-sectional design. A total of 101 pulmonary TB patients who were undergoing treatment, as well as patients who had been lost to follow-up, were recruited from the TB-DOTS outpatient clinic. Data were collected through direct interviews using the MMAS-8 and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Data was analyzed by the Chi-square test.

Result: Of the 101 patients, 40.6% showed high adherence, 47.5% moderate adherence, and 11.9% low adherence to tuberculosis medication. High quality of life was found to be more prevalent than low quality of life. Treatment adherence level was associated with the general quality of life (p=0.008), physical domain (p=0.008) and environmental domain (p<0.001). Treatment adherence level was not associated with the psychological and social relationship domain.

Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of the strategies to support treatment adherence by education, counselling, and monitoring as a part of comprehensive TB care to optimize patient-centred outcomes.