Abstract
Introduction: The trends of tuberculosis (TB) treatment success rate among children in Malaysia plateaued at 90% from 2014 to 2017. Malaysia sets a higher treatment success target of 95% to be achieved in line with an affordable, accessible, and holistic approach in managing TB among children.Objective: This study aims to explore the parents' experiences and perspectives toward achieving treatment success among children who were diagnosed with TB in two districts in Selangor state, Malaysia.Methods: The study was conducted using phenomenology study design via an in-depth interview of 15 mothers who were purposively sampled from the list of pediatric TB cases in the MyTB version 2.1 database in Klang and Petaling Districts of Selangor state. The R-based qualitative data analysis package of R version 0.2-8 was used to perform the thematic analysis.Results: Two main themes were identified from this study. The first theme was trust toward the healthcare services with the subthemes of acceptance, self-efficacy, holistic care, and perceived benefits. The second theme was the motivation to take or continue medication. The subthemes were support from family, healthcare workers' (HCWs') support, the convenience of healthcare services, community support, personal strength, and child's character.Conclusion: TB treatment success for children can be achieved when parents develop trust in healthcare services and have strong motivational factors to remain steadfast in achieving a successful treatment goal. Psychosocial support should be provided to the primary caregiver who faced any difficulty, while good relationships between parents and HCWs should be maintained. These results will inform the TB program managers to strengthen the holistic approach and identify the motivational factors among parents of children with TB disease.
Highlights
The trends of tuberculosis (TB) treatment success rate among children in Malaysia plateaued at 90% from 2014 to 2017
Malaysia has achieved the targeted treatment success rate for children, it remained at a plateau trend, making the local treatment success goal of 95% seem unachievable [11]
The World Health Organization recommended a holistic approach in managing TB among children by including support from parents or family members to ensure better treatment adherence and success [16, 17]
Summary
The trends of tuberculosis (TB) treatment success rate among children in Malaysia plateaued at 90% from 2014 to 2017. Malaysia sets a higher treatment success target of 95% to be achieved in line with an affordable, accessible, and holistic approach in managing TB among children. Malaysia has recorded treatment success rate of 90.4, 91.4, 91.4, and 90.1% from 2014 to 2017 for children with TB disease [10]. Malaysia has achieved the targeted treatment success rate for children, it remained at a plateau trend, making the local treatment success goal of 95% seem unachievable [11]. The World Health Organization recommended a holistic approach in managing TB among children by including support from parents or family members to ensure better treatment adherence and success [16, 17]. Strategies suggested to increase TB treatment adherence include providing education on TB to the family and community members, psychosocial support, financial support, and improving TB care delivery and health systems [18]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
