Health literacy, medication adherence, and preventive behaviors of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis at the Chest Disease Institute

Authors

  • Sukanya Sabaisook Central Chest Institute of Thailand
  • Krisana Cheewakul Central Chest Institute of Thailand
  • Patarachaya Swatdiwong Central Chest Institute of Thailand
  • Winai Trainattawan Boromarajonani College of Nursing Changwat Nonthaburi
  • Pramote Thangkratok Srisavarindhira Thai Red Cross Institute of Nursing https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8169-411X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14456/dcj.2025.3

Keywords:

health literacy, medication adherence, prevention of transmission, pulmonary tuberculosis

Abstract

This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to assess health literacy, medication adherence, and preventive behaviors related to the transmission of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients. A total of 133 newly diagnosed pulmonary TB patients with sputum-positive results who were undergoing treatment for drug-susceptible TB at the pulmonary tuberculosis clinic of the Chest Disease Institute during February and April 2020 were included into the study. Data was collected through interviews, which included questions about personal information, health literacy, medication adherence, and preventive behaviors related to TB transmission. The questionnaire demonstrated acceptable reliability, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.767, 0.841, and 0.766 for the respective domains. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The 51.1% of participants were female, with a mean age of 45.83 years. Among them, 39.8% had attained a bachelor's degree, and 37.6% were employed in daily wage jobs. Regarding health literacy, the findings showed that participants had a high level of health literacy (mean=3.15, SD=0.48). Similarly, medication adherence was reported at a high level (mean=4.60, SD=0.67). Preventive behaviors related to TB transmission were also high among the participants (mean=4.35, SD=0.47). In conclusion, patients with pulmonary TB demonstrated high levels of health literacy, medication adherence, and preventive behaviors against disease transmission. However, there is a need to further enhance education on seeking reliable health information, utilizing medication reminders, supporting regular exercise, and improving environmental conditions to reduce disease transmission in the community.

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Published

2025-03-27

How to Cite

1.
Sabaisook S, Cheewakul K, Swatdiwong P, Trainattawan W, Thangkratok P. Health literacy, medication adherence, and preventive behaviors of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis at the Chest Disease Institute. Dis Control J [internet]. 2025 Mar. 27 [cited 2025 Apr. 2];51(1):33-44. available from: https://he01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/DCJ/article/view/274678

Issue

Vol. 51 No. 1 (2025): January-March

Section

Original Article

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