Treatment completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia: A perspective from healthcare users.
Drug-resistant tuberculosis remains a persistent public health threat. Maximizing successful treatment completion is a global health priority and a focus of the End TB strategy. Despite the implementation of programmatic management for drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia, there is limited unders...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLOS Global Public Health |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0004110 |
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| author | Ahmed Reshid Tusho Sheila Theresa Mokoboto-Zwane |
| author_facet | Ahmed Reshid Tusho Sheila Theresa Mokoboto-Zwane |
| author_sort | Ahmed Reshid Tusho |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Drug-resistant tuberculosis remains a persistent public health threat. Maximizing successful treatment completion is a global health priority and a focus of the End TB strategy. Despite the implementation of programmatic management for drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia, there is limited understanding of the barriers related to successful treatment completion among Ethiopian patients. A qualitative study that is explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature was conducted to explore and describe the views and lived experiences of previously treated drug-resistant tuberculosis patients to gain an in-depth understanding of barriers to the successful completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment. Six focus group discussion sessions with 42 purposively selected drug-resistant tuberculosis patients with previous treatment history and on retreatment regimens were conducted. The seven prominent themes revealed were: drug-related challenges encompassing adverse events and the lengthy treatment duration; clinical hurdles such as delayed consultation following prolonged illness, diagnostic delays, and suboptimal dosages; psycho-emotional difficulties including emotional trauma and facing stigma from both the community and healthcare professionals; socio-economic constraints; service-related issues such as interruptions in monitoring tests, inadequate follow-up, and accessibility barriers; patient-related factors such as a false sense of recovery and reverting to previously quit habits; and provider-related issues such as lack of responsiveness and ineffective communication. Addressing these factors demands policy-level decisions and programmatic guidance at the national level based on best practices, as well as good programmatic implementation from actors through regional and health facility-level structures. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-82f2d3a1373649deb70109a9ace0772d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2767-3375 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLOS Global Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-82f2d3a1373649deb70109a9ace0772d2025-02-12T05:48:26ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLOS Global Public Health2767-33752025-01-0152e000411010.1371/journal.pgph.0004110Treatment completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia: A perspective from healthcare users.Ahmed Reshid TushoSheila Theresa Mokoboto-ZwaneDrug-resistant tuberculosis remains a persistent public health threat. Maximizing successful treatment completion is a global health priority and a focus of the End TB strategy. Despite the implementation of programmatic management for drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia, there is limited understanding of the barriers related to successful treatment completion among Ethiopian patients. A qualitative study that is explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature was conducted to explore and describe the views and lived experiences of previously treated drug-resistant tuberculosis patients to gain an in-depth understanding of barriers to the successful completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment. Six focus group discussion sessions with 42 purposively selected drug-resistant tuberculosis patients with previous treatment history and on retreatment regimens were conducted. The seven prominent themes revealed were: drug-related challenges encompassing adverse events and the lengthy treatment duration; clinical hurdles such as delayed consultation following prolonged illness, diagnostic delays, and suboptimal dosages; psycho-emotional difficulties including emotional trauma and facing stigma from both the community and healthcare professionals; socio-economic constraints; service-related issues such as interruptions in monitoring tests, inadequate follow-up, and accessibility barriers; patient-related factors such as a false sense of recovery and reverting to previously quit habits; and provider-related issues such as lack of responsiveness and ineffective communication. Addressing these factors demands policy-level decisions and programmatic guidance at the national level based on best practices, as well as good programmatic implementation from actors through regional and health facility-level structures.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0004110 |
| spellingShingle | Ahmed Reshid Tusho Sheila Theresa Mokoboto-Zwane Treatment completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia: A perspective from healthcare users. PLOS Global Public Health |
| title | Treatment completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia: A perspective from healthcare users. |
| title_full | Treatment completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia: A perspective from healthcare users. |
| title_fullStr | Treatment completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia: A perspective from healthcare users. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Treatment completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia: A perspective from healthcare users. |
| title_short | Treatment completion of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia: A perspective from healthcare users. |
| title_sort | treatment completion of drug resistant tuberculosis in ethiopia a perspective from healthcare users |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0004110 |
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