‘Ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in Ghana

Background: Non-adherence to treatment is a major problem in tuberculosis (TB) control and leads to adverse outcomes and increased morbidity and mortality. Aim: To explore the experiences of TB patients taking anti-TB drugs in Ghana to improve treatment adherence and prevent TB. Method: Ten semi-s...

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Main Authors: Salifu, Yakubu, Eliason, Cecilia, Mensah, George
Format: Article
Published: RCN Publishing 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42917/
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author Salifu, Yakubu
Eliason, Cecilia
Mensah, George
author_facet Salifu, Yakubu
Eliason, Cecilia
Mensah, George
author_sort Salifu, Yakubu
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Non-adherence to treatment is a major problem in tuberculosis (TB) control and leads to adverse outcomes and increased morbidity and mortality. Aim: To explore the experiences of TB patients taking anti-TB drugs in Ghana to improve treatment adherence and prevent TB. Method: Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted. Participants were asked about their experience of taking anti-TB drugs and factors that affect treatment adherence. These were transcribed and analysed using inductive content analysis. Participants were chosen through purposive sampling. Findings: Three main themes emerged from the data: family support, stigma, beliefs and misconception. Subthemes included emotional support, financial difficulty and myth. Conclusion: Patients who have family support, who are ‘policed’ and reminded to take their drugs at home are likely to adhere to treatment. Traditional beliefs and social stigma can affect medication adherence adversely.
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spelling nottingham-429172020-05-04T18:24:11Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42917/ ‘Ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in Ghana Salifu, Yakubu Eliason, Cecilia Mensah, George Background: Non-adherence to treatment is a major problem in tuberculosis (TB) control and leads to adverse outcomes and increased morbidity and mortality. Aim: To explore the experiences of TB patients taking anti-TB drugs in Ghana to improve treatment adherence and prevent TB. Method: Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted. Participants were asked about their experience of taking anti-TB drugs and factors that affect treatment adherence. These were transcribed and analysed using inductive content analysis. Participants were chosen through purposive sampling. Findings: Three main themes emerged from the data: family support, stigma, beliefs and misconception. Subthemes included emotional support, financial difficulty and myth. Conclusion: Patients who have family support, who are ‘policed’ and reminded to take their drugs at home are likely to adhere to treatment. Traditional beliefs and social stigma can affect medication adherence adversely. RCN Publishing 2016-12-29 Article PeerReviewed Salifu, Yakubu, Eliason, Cecilia and Mensah, George (2016) ‘Ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in Ghana. Primary Health Care, 26 (10). pp. 34-41. ISSN 2047-900X adherence commitment compliance family support nursing interventions qualitative stigma tuberculosis http://journals.rcni.com/doi/10.7748/phc.2016.e1159 doi:10.7748/phc.2016.e1159 doi:10.7748/phc.2016.e1159
spellingShingle adherence
commitment
compliance
family support
nursing interventions
qualitative
stigma
tuberculosis
Salifu, Yakubu
Eliason, Cecilia
Mensah, George
‘Ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in Ghana
title ‘Ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in Ghana
title_full ‘Ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in Ghana
title_fullStr ‘Ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in Ghana
title_full_unstemmed ‘Ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in Ghana
title_short ‘Ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in Ghana
title_sort ‘ghost’ stories: sociocultural factors influencing tuberculosis treatment adherence in ghana
topic adherence
commitment
compliance
family support
nursing interventions
qualitative
stigma
tuberculosis
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42917/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42917/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42917/