Tuberc Respir Dis.  1979 Jun;26(2):10-17. 10.4046/trd.1979.26.2.10.

A Study of the Effect of the Health Education with Personal Letters on the Improvement of TB Patient Control at a Rural Health Center

• KMID: 2528903
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1979.26.2.10

Abstract

Personal letters for the health education on TB were sent with short term interval to the patients newly registered for 1 year between 1st of September ’76 and 31th of August ’77 (experimental group ) looking forward to improving TB patient Control. The results were compared with those of the patients registered between 1 st of September ’75 to 31th of August ’76 to whom the letters were not sent (control group ). 1. The numbers of study patientis were 243. Among them 63.8 % were male, 36.2 % female, and 37.4 % were positive cases by initial sputum examination. The numbers of control patient were 265. Among them 67.9 % were male, 32.1 % female and56.6 % were positive cases by initial sputum examination. 2. 57.5 % of study group live at"convenient areas in traffic. 73.4 % of control group live at similarly convenient areas in traffic. 3. Negative conversion rate of all positive cases of study group was 56 % within 1st lyear of registration, which was higher than control group by 14 %. However difference of the rate was very little between two groups who got sputum examination regularly. 4. About half of the patients of both groups gave up their treatment within 0-3months after registration 41. 2 % of study group interrupted treatment within 0-3 months after registration while 52.8 % of control group did. 5. About 70 % of the patients of the both groups got follow-up checkings by X-ray more than once during 1st year of registration. 76.4 % of study group got follow -up checkings by X -ray, while 64.9 % of control group did. 6. Less than 70 % of both groups took sputum examination more than once 30 % of study group never took sputum examination during 1 st year of registration. 40.8 % of control group never took it during 1st. year of registration. In case of sputum examination more than twice, study group was much higher than control group. 7. In 59.5 % of the study group, more than one of the members of their families took TB examination X -ray, sputum AFB or both. It was 12 % higher than in the control group