Adherence to Latent TB Infection Therapy Among Latino Immigrants

Paper

Wednesday, 19 July 2006

This presentation is part of : Community Health Initiatives

Rita L. Ailinger, PhD, RN and Jean B. Moore, PhD, RN. George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

Learning Objective #1: Identify the world prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI).
Learning Objective #2: List the factors that were related to LTBI therapy adherence in the sample of Latino immigrants.

In the U. S. a key component for eliminating TB is treatment of Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) in high risk persons, such as immigrants. This study focused on adherence to LTBI therapy among Latino immigrants. The self-care action of taking daily medication for nine months is essential to LTBI adherence. According to Orem, self-care is affected by basic conditioning factors such as gender, age, education, and cultural factors. In this study of 53 Latino immigrants, basic conditioning factors were examined in relation to adherence to LTBI therapy. Findings indicated that adherence dropped from 98% in the second month to 72% at nine months and the mean number of months adherent was seven. Gender, age, education and cultural factors (years in U.S., country of origin, language spoken) were not associated with adherence, however, whether the client knew someone with TB was significantly associated with adherence (F=6.608, p=.013). The implications of these findings for nursing practice and research are discussed.

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