Peer Group Support on the Treatment Adherence of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients

Abstract

In recent years, pulmonary tuberculosis attracts the global concern as about 1.2 million people died of the disease by 2014. Treatment disobedience is one of the most factors causing the increase in mortality and morbidity rates. This study aimed to identify the effect of peer-group support towards treatment adherence in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. The study used quasi-experimental research with pre-test and post-test groups. The sample was 36 people selected with purposive sampling method. The independent variable was peer group support, while the dependent variable was the treatment adherence. The data were analyzed by Chi-square test and McNemar's test. The results of Chi-square test showed that the peer group support had significant effect to treatment adherence in taking medication time sub-variable (p=0.005) and the McNemar's showed a significant difference between pre-test and post-test in mentioned sub-variable (p=0.004). The results proved that peer group support could affect the medication time adherence on pulmonary tuberculosis patients. It can be concluded that peer group support can be used as an optional intervention to increase the obedience of pulmonary tuberculosis treatment in patients.