To find the treatment behavior of pulmonary tuberculosis patients, medical record review and telephone interview survey toward 151 patients who visited a general hospital tuberculosis clinic from January 3rd to March 31st in 2000 were made during Sept...
To find the treatment behavior of pulmonary tuberculosis patients, medical record review and telephone interview survey toward 151 patients who visited a general hospital tuberculosis clinic from January 3rd to March 31st in 2000 were made during September in 2000.
The results are as follows :
1. The subjects included 95 male and 56 female, and age distribution showed 47.0% under 40 years old, 21.2% from 40 to 59 years old and 31.8% from 60 years old or above. For the cost of their treatment, 78.8% were covered by medical insurance and 21.2% by government medical aid program.
2. Among the subjects 105 persons (70.0%) had previous tuberculosis history and 25 persons(17.5%) had family history of tuberculosis patients.
The most common reason of visit to study hospital was due to the referral from outside health facility(64.9%) and 65.0% could arrive the hospital in one hour.
3. The common subjective symptom of the patients were cough and sputum, and 51 persons showed positive bacteria results from 131 sputum smear test. 110 persons were diagnosed to be active tuberculosis and 35 persons to be inactive by sputum test and chest X-ray examination.
4. Among the subjects 93 patients (61.6%) performed regular treatment, 35 patients(23.2%) did irregular treatment and 23 patients(15.2%) stopped treatment from observed hospital during observed period.
5. Among the 58 patients who did not perform regular treatment, 26 persons described the reason of the cessation of treatment as the hospital was too far from their home and 30 persons thought they had no more subjective symptoms.
6. After the cessation of treatment from the observed hospital 22 persons were treated at a government health center and 9 persons at a medical clinic.
In conclusion, continuous systematic follow-up observation of registered tuberculosis patients at non-governmental hospital to facilitate their complete cure.