o treatment compliance may be neutralized.
HEALTH EDUCATION EFFECTIVENESS IN TREATMENT COMPLIANCE AMONG TUBERCULOSIS PATIENTS: A
This research outlines a proposal to study the relationship between health education and tuberculosis treatment compliance. Problem statement, procedures, and other information are provided.
The incidence of tuberculosis in the United States over the past 15 years has increased dramatically (Eubanks, 1992, p. 60). During this period, tuberculosis has become increasingly drug resistant causing treatment to be less effective and control to become more difficult (Gebhart, 1992, pp. 37 41). Tuberculosis is most prevalent in the nation's inner cities (Kindel, 1993, p. 48). The increase in immigration from developing areas of the world over the past 15 years has contributed to the problem, as a significant proportion of these individuals arrive in the United States already suffering from serious illnesses such as tuberculosis and AIDS (Farmer and Kim, 1991, pp. 203 221). AIDS sufferers are particularly susceptible to tuberculosis infection.
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease. Once tuberculosis patients have taken their medication "regularly for a few weeks," however, "they lose their capacity to infect others if the TB strain is sensitive to these drugs. At that point, they can return to work and lead relatively normal lives provided that they continue to take the drugs that will eventually wipe out all the bacteria they carry" (Conspicuous consumption, 1993, p. 8).
Failure to comply with treatment regimens cause patients to
relapse and frequently permit "drug resistant strains of bacteria" to "flourish in their bodies" (Conspicuous consumption, 1993, p. 8). Patient non compliance is a major problem in the control of tuberculosis.
The control of many infectious diseases has benefited from effective and well administered health education programs. The purpose of the propose...