The Effectiveness of the Multi-language Illustration of Sputum Collection for Tuberculosis Diagnosis for Immigrant Workers

Abstract

This experimental study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the multi-language
illustration of sputum collection for tuberculosis diagnosis for immigrant workers at Nopparat
Rajathanee Hospital. The multi-language illustration was developed to describe the characteris-
tics of sputum for tuberculosis diagnosis. The multi-language illustration was used to explain
the sputum collection for acid fast bacilli stain (AFB) in 135 immigrant workers (test group)
and compared to the control group immigrant workers, in which the multi-language illustration
was not used. The correlations between multi-language illustration use and rate of sputum
sample and AFB positive were analysed. The result found that rate of sputum sample and AFB
positive were 52.6 and 8.2% in test group, while 31.9 and 5.2% for control group. It was found
that rate of sputum sample in test group was increased 2.39 times when compared to control
group (95%CI = 1.44-3.86) (p < 0.001). Whereas, positive rate of AFB in the test group and the
control group were not significantly differrent. The study showed that the use of multi-language
illustration of sputum collection is able to increase the rate of sputum collected by immigrant
workers.