Effects of Empowerment on Self-Care Behaviors and Sputum Examination of Patients with Tuberculosis

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease that takes a long time to treat. Most TB patients experience much suffering. If the treatment fails, it results in the spread of the infection into the community and can lead to drug resistant tuberculosis. This quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of empowerment on self-care behaviors of tuberculosis patients and their sputum conversion rate. Study subjects were registered patients with tuberculosis receiving short-term clinical treatment for tuberculosis at Ratchaburi Hospital. The sample population was 44 patients selected as a simple random sample from new cases voluntarily registering on regular service days. The sample was divided into an experimental and a comparison group. The experimental group received empowerment training but the control group received regular service. The intervention used empowerment techniques. Data were collected using questionnaires that assessed demographic data of patients, self-care behaviors and included a sputum record form. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics: percentage, mean, standard deviation; chi square test, Fisher’s exact test and Independent t- test. The results showed that, the mean change of self-care behavior in the experimental group was significantly greater than in the control group at the 0.05 level (t = 10.17, p <0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in sputum conversion rate. The findings support the effectiveness of the empowerment-promoting program which increases self-care behaviors of tuberculosis patients. Research findings suggest that community nurse practitioners or other healthcare personnel could apply this empowerment training to improve care for patients with tuberculosis in the community to reduce the spread of infection and tuberculosis drug resistance.