BACKGROUND
Improving the level of health self-management of tuberculosis (TB) patients is significant for reducing drug resistance, improving the cure rate and controlling the prevalence of TB. And the mHealth intervention based on behavioral science theories may be a promising intervention for this goal.
OBJECTIVE
The study aims to explore and conduct a mHealth intervention based on the Integrated Theory of Health Behavior Change (ITHBC) in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis to increase their ability of self-care management, enhance cure rates and diminish infection and drug resistance.
METHODS
A prospective randomized controlled study was conducted in this study. Convenience sampling was performed in Harbin Chest Hospital to recruit 114 participants according to the inclusion criteria from May, 2020 to August, 2020. Participants were randomized to intervention and control groups through coin tossing. The intervention group added mHealth intervention based on ITHBC theory about TB management on the basis of the control group. Self-designed and standard scales were used to assess each outcome measure, evaluating effect of the intervention. Independent sample t-test was used for inter-group comparison, and paired sample t-test was used for intra-group comparison. The demographic informatics characteristics of the two groups were compared by chi-square test.
RESULTS
A total of 112 patients (59 for intervention and 53 for control) completed the study. After the intervention, a statistically significant increase was noted in scores of each item of self-care management behaviors compared with scores at the baseline(P<.001). The scores of all self-care management behaviors of control group were lower than intervention group (P＜.05), except item "cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing" and item " wash hands properly " which had no statistically difference with intervention group . Compared with baseline, TB knowledge awareness, self-efficacy, social support, and degree of satisfaction with health education of the intervention group all increased significantly (P<.001), and it had higher scores than the control group (P<.001).
CONCLUSIONS
Mobile Health intervention for TB self-management based on ITHBC could deepen understanding of TB patients for their diseases, and improve their objective initiative and self-care management behaviors, which were beneficial to promote compliance behavior and quality of prevention and control for pulmonary tuberculosis.
Impact of an Educational Program Regarding Self-Care Management Behaviors for Patients with Bronchial Asthma in Al-Masah El-Bahary Hospital at Port-Said.