Abstract
Review question/objective What are the most effective educational interventions that are used to improve patients’ outcomes via improvement of health professionals’ knowledge and practice in the Direct Observed Therapy of Tuberculosis and the Directly Observed Therapy Short-Course (DOTS) strategy? Inclusion criteria Types of participants All categories of health professionals directly involved in Direct Observed Therapy of Tuberculosis (DOT) and Directly Observed Therapy Short-Course (the overall DOTS strategy), working either in hospital settings, the public health field or other health sectors. Types of interventions This review will consider studies that evaluate educational interventions used by health institutions or health authorities in order to improve patients’ health by enhancing the knowledge and practice of health professionals regarding the DOTS strategy and DOT (supervised therapy/treatment of Tuberculosis). The educational interventions can be compared to another type of educational intervention, or to no education. Types of outcomes Educational knowledge and practice outcomes are intermediary outcomes, but the main outcomes of interest are patient-related outcomes. The primary outcome of interest for this review is the number of TB cases (smear positive TB patients) detected by the health professionals. Secondary outcomes of interest for this review are: Compliance as measured by counting the number of patients completing TB treatment; Dropout attrition rates as measured by counting the number of patients who did not complete the treatment or who abandoned the treatment at some point; Cured from TB as confirmed by Bacilloscopy, X-ray or culture and sensitivity tests that may or may not include an additional assessment of the patients for clinical signs and symptoms; and All-cause mortality and mortality due to TB.
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