Willingness to seek medical care for tuberculosis and associated factors among the elderly population in Shenzhen: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study was aimed to assess the willingness of elderly people to seek medical care for tuberculosis (TB) and the associated influencing factors.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingA multistage random survey was conducted in Bao’an District of Shenzhen in China.ParticipantsA total of 1200 elderly people aged 65 or above were recruited for the study and completed a structured questionnaire between September and October 2019.Main outcome measuresDescriptive and binary logistic stepwise regression analyses were conducted to analyse the characteristics of elderly individuals, their willingness to seek medical care for TB and associated factors.ResultsAmong the final 1123 respondents, 943 (84.0%) were willing to seek medical care if they discovered suspicious TB symptoms. Binary logistic stepwise regression analysis indicated that respondents whose family annual income per capita was 50 000–100 000¥ (OR=2.56, 95% CI: 1.44 to 4.54, p<0.01) and who had positive attitudes (≥3 scores: OR=3.10, 95% CI: 1.90 to 5.05, p<0.01) or practices (≥4 scores: OR=3.13, 95% CI: 1.82 to 5.39, p<0.01) towards TB were more willing to seek medical care for TB.ConclusionsWillingness to seek medical care for TB in the elderly population can be improved according to the determinants.

Tuberculosis in older adults: case studies from four countries with rapidly ageing populations in the western pacific region

“…TB-related stigma (perceived and experienced) remains pervasive in many communities [ 96 ]. While systematic assessment of TB-related stigma among older adults has not been conducted, older adults in China have reported unwillingness to seek TB care due to fear of discrimination and self-isolation because of stigma [ 32 , 97 ]. Anecdotally, aged care facilities in Japan were reluctant to accept returning residents after hospital admission for TB care due to fear and stigma, while unwillingness to be screened for TB has also been ascribed to stigma.…”

Factors Associated with Medication Adherence in Elderly Individuals with Tuberculosis: A Qualitative Study

“…Te subcategory of biological factors dealt with the individual characteristics afecting the medication adherence of the elderly tuberculosis patients. Te analysis of the data obtained from the literature review confrmed that the age [20,31,32,[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66], gender [22,61,66], and comorbidity [21,57,60,67,68] afected the medication adherence of elderly tuberculosis patients. Te interviews also confrmed the importance of these factors and their impact on medication adherence.…”

“…Te subcategory of afective-emotional factors referred to afective and emotional factors. Te analysis of data obtained from the literature review confrmed that motivation for treatment [69,70], depression and anxiety [70,71], and patient's afections and feelings [66] afected the medication adherence of elderly tuberculosis patients. Te participants' experiences in the interviews indicated the impact of the patient's personality, and acceptance of illness on medication adherence behavior of elderly tuberculosis patients.…”

“…Te subcategory of behavioral factors referred to the patient's self-care ability [57,70], substance abuse [66,69,70], and the use of reminders for taking medication [72,73] based on the literature review and participants' experiences in the interviews. An 86-year-old male patient said: ".…”

“…Te subcategory of cognitive factors referred to the analysis of data obtained from the literature review insisted on efective interaction with the physician [74,75], patient's memory [60], patient's knowledge about tuberculosis and treatment [67,69,70,74,[76][77][78][79][80], and patient 's general knowledge [59,66,81]. Te interviews also confrmed the importance of these factors and their impact on medication adherence in elderly tuberculosis patients.…”