Antecedents of Adherence to Antituberculosis Therapy

Abstract

This correlational study identified antecedents of adherence to antituberculosis (anti-TB) therapy in a convenience sample of 62 English-speaking adults. From a demographic perspective, the study sample was similar to the referent population of TB patients in Georgia. A variety of parametric analyses revealed the following: The mean self-reported adherence score was 92.6% (SD = 3.3). Higher levels of self-reported adherence were associated with an annual income of $11,000 or more, education beyond high school, no current alcohol use, perceived support and absence of barriers to medication taking, strong intentions to adhere, and a high capacity for self-care. Those six variables accounted for 28% of adherence variance, F(6, 44) of 4.3, p = 0.0017. Additionally, belief in the usefulness and benefit of the medications was strongly correlated with intentions to adhere (r = 0.83, p < 0.001), and interpersonal aspects of care was significantly correlated with perceptions of medication utility (r = 0.65, p < 0.001), supports/barriers (r = 0.44, p < 0.001), intentions (r = 0.69, p < 0.001), and self-care (r = -0.42, p < 0.01). Persons who were diagnosed with both TB and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reported significantly lower adherence.