Effects of a health promotion program by applying the theory of empowerment in new smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Abstract

This research is a quasi – experimental study which aimed to explore the effects of a
health promotion program by applying the theory of empowerment in new smear positive
pulmonary tuberculosis patients in terms of behavioral modification and self-care for pulmonary tuberculosis patients. The sample was comprised of fifty new smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients recruited at the TB Clinic section of the Bureau of Tuberculosis. The subjects  were divided into experimental (n=25) and comparison (n=25) groups. The patients in the experimental group were subjected to the health promotion program through the application of the theory of empowerment, which was defined by the researcher while patients in the comparison group received regular health services. The empowerment program has a four structure consisting of activities such as lecturing with slides, videos, guide books and a brochure, the exchange of learning and group discussions. In addition, the participants were monitored by promptings telephone visits. The duration of implementation was eight weeks. The data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive statistics and comparative analysis. The level of significance was set at 0.05. The results showed that the experimental group had higher mean scores of knowledge about tuberculosis, self-efficacy and self-care behavior and also than those in the comparison group (p<0.001). In addition, the sputum smear conversion to negative at month two in the intervention group and was significantly higher than in the comparison group (p =0.001). The study revealed that the empowerment program with a group process infected
pulmonary tuberculosis patients to improve their knowledge, self-efficacy and compliance with TB treatment plan. As a result, TB transmission will be decreased and beneficial for a TB control program in order to cut disease transmission and effectiveness of reducing TB multi-drug resistance.