Accessibility and Utilization of Tuberculosis Directly Observed Therapy in Primary Health Care Facilities in Katsina State, North West Nigeria

Abstract

Tuberculosis is a public health problem in Katsina state. Previous effort to decrease the burden of TB was substantially targeted at the secondary and tertiary level of care. The new strategy calls for the decentralization of DOTS at the PHC level. This study assessed the resources for diagnosis and treatment of TB, utilization of services in PHC facilities in Katsina state. The study design was a cross-sectional descriptive study and it enrolled 225 TB patients in 32 health facilities through a multi-stage sampling technique. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data from respondents. Qualitative data were also collected using KII. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20-software package. For the qualitative aspect, content analysis was done for KII. Of the Health facilities studied 7 (28%) were diagnostic centres while 25 (72%) were treatment (intake) centres. The mean age of TB patients was 39+13 years also the mean duration since the commencement of treatment was 3 months. The mean duration time before reaching the hospital was 39 + 27 minutes. The majority (98.5%) of TB patients had easy access to a health facility. About one third (34.4%) of the health facilities had and were using a microscope. In conclusion, the study revealed that resources for TB diagnosis were not adequate in most of the health facilities. However, resources for TB treatment were sufficient. The state government should provide more support in making TB resources adequate in all facilities.