Non‐completion of latent tuberculosis infection treatment among Vietnamese immigrants in Southern California: A retrospective study

Abstract

Objectives: To examine socio-demographic and health-related factors associated with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) treatment refusal, non-initiation, and noncompletion among a cohort of Vietnamese immigrants. Design: This is a retrospective cohort study in which LTBI charts were reviewed at a public health clinic in Orange County, California between January 2010 and August 2011. Sample: Altogether, 474 patient charts with documented LTBI treatment were reviewed for patients who met the inclusion criteria. Measurements: Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify sociodemographic and health-related factors associated with LTBI treatment refusal, noninitiation, and non-completion. Results: Of the 474 charts reviewed, 171(36.1%) patients refused LTBI treatment and 21(6.9%) accepted but did not initiate. Of the 282 that started treatment, 62 (22.0%) did not complete the regimen prescribed. The primary barrier documented for treatment refusal and non-completion was concern about medication side effects. Other barriers to treatment non-completion include transportation issues and conflicts with travel plans or work schedules. Conclusions: Community and public health nurses working with the Vietnamese immigrant population can play a vital role in improving patients' LTBI treatment acceptance, initiation, and completion. A proactive approach to addressing barriers and potential medication side effects can improve overall treatment success.

Intention to receive Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) treatment and its associated factors among healthcare workers in a Malaysian teaching university hospital

“…The questionnaire comprised of two main sections that incorporated 35 items to explore the intention of HCWs to receive LTBI treatment and the influential factors. The questionnaire items were adapted from prior studies with some modifications to accommodate the requirements for measuring the independent and dependent variables in this study because of the limited questionnaires that have been used to examine intention towards LTBI treatment [ 37 – 39 ].…”

“…The eight items used to assess attitude are explained as follows: The initial four items are seven-point semantic differential adjective pairs (good-bad, important- unimportant, harmful-beneficial, & favourable-unfavourable) that apply reverse-coding, with a higher score denoting a more favourable attitude. The remaining four items deploy the five-point Likert scale that ranges from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’ to assess the attitude of the respondents towards LTBI treatment [ 39 ]. The total score for the eight items was converted into percentage.…”