Factors predicting self-report adherence (SRA) behaviours among DS-TB patients under the "Integrated model": a survey in Southwest China.

BACKGROUND: China is one of 30 countries with a high tuberculosis (TB) burden, and poor adherence to TB treatment is one of the biggest challenges for TB control. We aimed to explore the barriers and facilitators of treatment adherence among drug-sensitive tuberculosis (DS-TB) patients under the "Integrated model" in Western China, to provide evidence-based treatment and control regimens for DS-TB patients to improve adherence behaviours. METHODS: Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to explore the factors associated with self-reported adherence (SRA) behaviours. Questionnaire surveys with DS-TB patients and in-depth interviews with leaders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and community health sectors (CHCs), healthcare workers (HCWs) from CHCs, and DS-TB patients were conducted. RESULTS: A total of 459 eligible patients were included in the quantitative survey, and two patients and 13 healthcare providers were included in the in-depth interviews. The percentage of patients who experienced a missed dose, lack of follow-up sputum examination, and interrupted treatment were 19.0%, 11.3%, and 9.2%, respectively. Patients aged 20-39 had a higher risk of missed dose [OR (95% CI): 2.302 (1.001-5.305)] and a lower risk of interrupted treatment [OR (95% CI): 0.278 (0.077-0.982)] than patients more than 60 years. Patients who were of Han ethnicity (OR [95% CI]: 0.524 [0.301-0.912]) received psychological support (OR [95% CI]: 0.379 [0.144-0.998]) from their family and had a lower risk of missed doses. Patients who had drug side effects had a higher risk of interrupted treatment (OR [95% CI]: 2.587 [1.237-5.412]). Patients who possessed higher knowledge had a lower risk of lack of follow-up sputum examination [OR (95% CI): 0.817 (0.673-0.991)]. The results of the qualitative study also reported that patients' poor TB knowledge was the main reason for their non-SRA behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: Patient-centred strategies should be implemented to improve health literacy and strengthen psychological support. More effective case management should be designed and implemented based on different patient characteristics to improve adherence behaviours in further studies.

Research on the Mental Stress of College Students in Southwest China amid the COVID-19 Epidemic

This study designed related mental health assessment questions to investigate the mental stress of college students in China's southwest region during the epidemic. In this study, college students from 5 universities in southwest China were selected as the research objects. A total of 1890 questionnaires were distributed, and 1812 questionnaires were recovered, with the recovery rate of 95.87%, of which 1808 are valid. The valid rate of the questionnaire is 99.78%. The data on questionnaires were imported into Excel for preliminary screening and processing, and the data were analyzed using the SPSS22.0 software. The enumeration data are expressed by percentage (%), and X2 test was performed for comparison. t test was used to compare the enumeration data, with P<0.05 representing there is difference. The research results showed that college students in Southwest China generally have different degrees of mental problems, and there are many influencing factors, including the following aspects: (1) It was found that compared with non-medical students, medical students have a lower degree of anxiety;(2) sleep quality. Generally speaking, mental state is closely related to the quality of sleep;(3) The degree of understanding of COVID-19. Students who have a moderate understanding of the epidemic situation are generally more anxious, suggesting that mistakes or limited cognition of COVID-19 can result in negative emotions of students;(4) This study revealed that with the reduction in the frequency of going out per week, the degree of anxiety of college students increases significantly. © 2021 Kriedt Enterprises Ltd. All right reserved.