Listening to Those at the Frontline: Patient and Healthcare Personnel Perspectives on Tuberculosis Treatment Barriers and Facilitators in High TB Burden Regions of Argentina

The role and value of counsellors in the treatment journeys of people with tuberculosis and their families: Qualitative insights from the South Fly District of Papua New Guinea

Combined education and counselling can contribute to person-centred care for tuberculosis (TB), improving uptake, adherence, and outcomes of treatment for TB disease and TB infection. Though strongly recommended by the World Health Organization for all people diagnosed with TB, education and counselling is not widely implemented in TB programs around the world. In 2016, a pilot TB education and counselling program, delivered by trained professionals and peers, was initiated to support people on TB treatment in the South Fly District of Papua New Guinea. This article reports on select findings from a qualitative study that examined the socio-cultural dimensions of TB, including treatment support such as education and counselling, in the South Fly District. An assessment on data collected during 128 semi-structured in-depth interviews of the role of counsellors on TB treatment journeys revealed strong participant support for the counsellors and the services they delivered, with particular emphasis on the emotional support provided to address fears and concerns related to TB diagnosis and treatment, and to support treatment adherence; valuable attributes of counsellors; their role as intermediaries between patients and health workers; their provision of biomedical knowledge of TB transmission and disease; and their assistance in addressing stigma and discrimination from family and community. Participants also noted how tackling the socio-structural issues that drive TB transmission in people's homes and communities were beyond the remit of counsellors' work. TB education and counselling should be an essential part of all TB services to provide support and encouragement for people to continue treatment to completion.

Usability testing of a mobile health application to support individuals with active tuberculosis: a mixed methods study

Poor adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment leads to further disease transmission, worsened outcomes, and the development of drug resistance. Digital adherence technologies may facilitate a more patient-centered approach for improving TB treatment outcomes than current strategies. The objective of this study was to evaluate and explore improving usability of the TB Treatment Support Tools (TB-TST) mobile application. We used an iterative convergent mixed-method design consisting of two quantitative surveys and a qualitative think-aloud interview. Testing was conducted in three testing cycles consisting of a total of 16 interviews and 26 surveys. Results were thematically analyzed and reported to the development team during weekly team meetings. Participants rated the TB-TSTs application as having high usability and the iterative approach resulted in several refinements to the application in response to participant feedback. These refinements were well received during qualitative interviews but did not result in a statistically significant improvement in usability testing scores between cycles. Using an iterative convergent mixed-method design was an effective method for refining our mHealth application. Data collected from think-aloud interviews, the MAUQ, and the Health-ITUES identified key areas of application design that needed refinement.

Mobile Tuberculosis Treatment Support Tools to Increase Treatment Success in Patients with Tuberculosis in Argentina: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Tuberculosis (TB) is an urgent global health threat and the world's deadliest infectious disease despite being largely curable. A critical challenge is to ensure that patients adhere to the full course of treatment to prevent the continued spread of the disease and development of drug-resistant disease. Mobile health interventions hold promise to provide the required adherence support to improve TB treatment outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the TB treatment support tools (TB-TSTs) intervention on treatment outcomes (success and default) and to assess patient and provider perceptions of the facilitators and barriers to TB-TSTs implementation.

METHODS

The TB-TSTs study is an open-label, randomized controlled trial with 2 parallel groups in which 400 adult patients newly diagnosed with TB will be randomly assigned to receive usual care or usual care plus TB-TSTs. Participants will be recruited on a rolling basis from 4 clinical sites in Argentina. The intervention consists of a smartphone progressive web app, a treatment supporter (eg, TB nurse, physician, or social worker), and a direct adherence test strip engineered for home use. Intervention group participants will report treatment progress and interact with a treatment supporter using the app and metabolite urine test strip. The primary outcome will be treatment success. Secondary outcomes will include treatment default rates, self-reported adherence, technology use, and usability. We will assess patients' and providers' perceptions of barriers to implementation and synthesize lessons learned. We hypothesize that the TB-TSTs intervention will be more effective because it allows patients and TB supporters to monitor and address issues in real time and provide tailored support. We will share the results with stakeholders and policy makers.

RESULTS

Enrollment began in November 2020, with a delayed start due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and complete enrollment is expected by approximately July 2022. Data collection and follow-up are expected to be completed 6 months after the last patient is enrolled. Results from the analyses based on the primary end points are expected to be submitted for publication within a year of data collection completion.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, this randomized controlled trial will be the first study to evaluate a patient-centered remote treatment support strategy using a mobile tool and a home-based direct drug metabolite test. The results will provide robust scientific evidence on the effectiveness, implementation, and adoption of mobile health tools. The findings have broader implications not only for TB adherence but also more generally for chronic disease management and will improve our understanding of how to support patients facing challenging treatment regimens.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04221789; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04221789.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/28094.

Facilities and difficulties in implementation of the tuberculosis control program in Primary Health Care

Introduction: The Brazilian National Tuberculosis Control Program was created to recommend and direct clinical actions, organizational setting, information systems and surveillance of tuberculosis. The process of implementation of control actions in Primary Care took place in several formats and with different outcomes, due to the influences of local organizational configuration. Objective: To identify the facilities and difficulties reported by nurses in the implementation of the Tuberculosis Control Program in Primary Health Care. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, conducted in the city of Natal, Brazil. Data collected from November from 2017 to February 2018, with 80 nurses from Primary Health Care, through a structured questionnaire. Data were categorized according to similarity criteria and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The availability of nurses to work in the program (47.5%) and the presence of materials (31.2%) were the most frequently mentioned facilities. The most frequently mentioned difficulties were: adherence to treatment (21.2%) and the performance of complementary tests (15.0%). Conclusion: The findings of the study may contribute to reflection and planning of actions by health teams, as well as a tool for local managers to organize their services, in order to ensure the person with tuberculosis comprehensive care.

Nurses' Safety in Caring for Tuberculosis Patients at a Teaching Hospital in South West Nigeria

Background

Tuberculosis remains the leading cause of death due to infectious diseases worldwide ranking above HIV/AIDS, and Nigeria is rated as the 7^th worldwide and the 2^nd in Africa among the 30 countries highly burdened with tuberculosis worldwide.

Aim

To investigate the challenges encountered by nurses in the care of TB patients in a Federal Teaching Hospital in Nigeria. Setting. Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria.

Methods

A qualitative contextual method was utilized with the sample size determined by data saturation. Data collection was done through an audiotaped, semistructured interview. The study sample consisted of 20 professional nurses working in the medical and paediatric wards of a selected Federal Teaching Hospital in South West, Nigeria. Data was analysed using Tesch's content analysis approach.

Results

The majority of the participants were females within the age group of 31–40 years. Challenges included inadequate availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), lack of isolation wards, delegating the care of tuberculosis patients to young inexperienced nurses, long process in diagnosing patients with tuberculosis, lack of policies protecting the nurses from exposure to tuberculosis, and inadequate training. The major concern was the fear of contracting tuberculosis.

Conclusion

The study suggested that there should be a provision of adequate personal protective equipment; tuberculosis designated wards and provision of periodic training to update the nurses on care of tuberculosis patients. Establishment and execution of hospital policies and practices along with support are equally essential in facilitating a safe workplace for nurses.

Converting and expanding mobile support tools for tuberculosis treatment support: Design recommendations from domain and design experts

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the top ten causes of death globally despite it being largely treatable. Poor adherence to treatment directly contributes to poor outcomes, such as, prolonged infectivity and the development of drug resistance. Mobile phone-based interventions have the potential to improve treatment outcomes.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to solicit design and domain expert feedback of a previously developed TB support intervention converted to a mobile application.

Methods

We used prototyping in iterative cycles that included integrating findings from prior formative research with endusers and soliciting feedback from design and content experts. In this project, we used low-fidelity prototype evaluation to inform the design of high-fidelity prototypes for further testing and iterative refinement.

Results

We received 12 survey results. Overall, the participants agreed that the functions would be easy to learn/use. Recommendations for improvement included: simplify the reporting by offering broad categories; split complex screens to be more intuitive and user friendly; modify feedback graphics to display data more clearly; incorporate instructions for each task/function to guide users and collapse the information once users had viewed it; display navigation icons on each screen and add a main menu button; have medication tracker be homepage and limit redundancies. Several potential functionalities were suggested, such as adding a notes/journal and a social feature. We were able to easily incorporate recommendations and feedback into the high-fidelity prototypes and continue testing and refinement. After we came to a stable prototype through testing, we gave the interactive prototype to our developers to program a base functioning model.

Conclusion

The proposed design recommendations provide valuable insight to inform initial conversion of an interactive intervention to customize patient support, which include a smartphone app and a direct drug metabolite test reengineered for home use. We argue that iteratively developing low- and high-fidelity prototypes with content and design experts to guide initial programming of a functional beta app paves the way to better explore further refinement needs and recommendations with endusers rather than using hypothetical scenarios.

Converting and expanding a mobile support intervention: Focus group and field-testing findings from individuals in active tuberculosis treatment

BACKGROUND

Non-adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment jeopardizes the individual's health and contributes to disease transmission and drug resistance. New patient-centered strategies are needed to improve TB treatment outcomes.

PURPOSE

To convert and expand a texting-based intervention into a mobile optimized application (app), evaluate the feasibility of an added self-administered paper-based drug metabolite test, and identify needs and preferences to inform their iterative design.

METHODS

Qualitative methods using focus groups and field testing with patients in active TB treatment were used to gather initial input on the converted intervention design, content and issues using at home test strips to report medication adherence. Seven participants were recruited from an outpatient clinic within a regional public reference hospital specialized in respiratory diseases in Argentina. Thematic analyses were conducted on the transcripts and session notes.

RESULTS

Participants considered interactive communication, access to answers to frequently asked questions, and tracking of progress in treatment as important. Participants reported having many questions and uncertainties at initiation of treatment and emphasized a need for reliable information, assurance and support from both providers and peers. Other suggestions included streamlining the graphical user interface for easier and shorter data entry times and usability.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall feedback from the participants regarding the intervention was positive, reporting that it was useful and relevant, and they were eager to contribute their ideas for improvement and additional functionality. Valuable feedback to improve functionality and meet the needs of end-users were obtained to inform the generation of new design ideas for refinement and testing in a pilot study.

Smartphone Applications to Support Tuberculosis Prevention and Treatment: Review and Evaluation

BACKGROUND

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem and is the leading killer due to a single infectious disease. Mobile health (mHealth)-based tools such as smartphone apps have been suggested as tools to support TB control efforts (eg, identification, contact tracing, case management including patient support).

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this review was to identify and assess the functionalities of mobile apps focused on prevention and treatment of TB.

METHODS

We searched 3 online mobile app stores. Apps were included if they were focused on TB and were in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. For each included app, 11 functionalities were assessed (eg, inform, instruct, record), and searches were conducted to identify peer-review publications of rigorous testing of the available apps.

RESULTS

A total of 1332 potentially relevant apps were identified, with 24 meeting our inclusion criteria. All of the apps were free to download, but 7 required login and password and were developed for specific clinics, regional sites, or research studies. Targeted users were mainly clinicians (n=17); few (n=4) apps were patient focused. Most apps (n=17) had 4 or fewer functions out of 11 (range 1-6). The most common functionalities were inform and record (n=15). Although a number of apps were identified with various functionalities to support TB efforts, some had issues such as incorrect spelling and grammar, inconsistent responses to data entry, problems with crashing, or links to features that had no data. Of more concern, some apps provided potentially harmful information to patients, such as links to natural remedies for TB and natural healers. One-third of the apps (8/24) had not been updated for more than a year and may no longer be supported. Peer-reviewed publications were identified for only two of the included apps. In the gray literature (not found in the app stores), three TB-related apps were identified as in progress, being launched, or tested.

CONCLUSIONS

Apps identified for TB prevention and treatment had minimal functionality, primarily targeted frontline health care workers, and focused on TB information (eg, general information, guidelines, and news) or data collection (eg, replace paper-based notification or tracking). Few apps were developed for use by patients and none were developed to support TB patient involvement and management in their care (eg, follow-up alerts/reminders, side effects monitoring) or improve interaction with their health care providers, limiting the potential of these apps to facilitate patient-centered care. Our evaluation shows that more refined work is needed to be done in the area of apps to support patients with active TB. Involving TB patients in treatment in the design of these apps is recommended.