Pathways to care and preferences for improving tuberculosis services among tuberculosis patients in Zambia: A discrete choice experiment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Delays in the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) contribute to a substantial proportion of TB-related mortality, especially among people living with HIV (PLHIV). We sought to characterize the diagnostic journey for HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients with a new TB diagnosis in Zambia, to understand drivers of delay, and characterize their preferences for service characteristics to inform improvements in TB services.

Methods

We assessed consecutive adults with newly microbiologically-confirmed TB at two public health treatment facilities in Lusaka, Zambia. We administered a survey to document critical intervals in the TB care pathway (time to initial care-seeking, diagnosis and treatment initiation), identify bottlenecks and their reasons. We quantified patient pref

SUBMITTER: Kerkhoff AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8407587 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature