TITLE:
Family-Based Tuberculosis Counseling Supports Directly Observed Therapy in Armenia: A Pilot Project
AUTHORS:
Nune Truzyan, Byron Crape, Tsovinar Harutyunyan, Varduhi Petrosyan
KEYWORDS:
Tuberculosis, Family Support, Counseling
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Tuberculosis Research,
Vol.6 No.2,
May
16,
2018
ABSTRACT: Objectives: Non-adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment causes development of multi-drug resistance (MDR). In Armenia, about 47% of previously-treated TB patients develop MDR-TB. This pilot intervention intended to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of a family-based-counseling (FBC) that included a psychological component in terms of improved adherence of TB patients to treatment and reduced stigma of TB. Methods: Overall, 136 regular TB patients (55) and their family members (81) participated in a single 90-minute interactive counseling session conducted in each household by the team of professional psychologist and TB nurse. To evaluate FBC effectiveness, we administered baseline and follow-up surveys to 52 TB patients and their 57 family members in 2012 and compared treatment outcomes of the study participants with the national data for 2011 and 2013. Results: We found that the intervention substantially improved the mean knowledge score of TB patients (from 19.2 to 21.6, p Conclusion: The evaluation showed that a low-cost one-time family–based educational intervention with a psychological component can be effective in improving treatment outcomes of TB patients.