Abstract
BACKGROUND: Treatment non-adherence poses significant risks to health outcomes and impedes the health system's efficiency, hence curtailing progress towards the end Tuberculosis (TB) strategy under SDG 3.3. Despite interventions to address TB treatment non-adherence, Kenya still reports high TB treatment non-adherence rates of 35% and consequently poor treatment outcome rates. Health Care Workers (HCWs) play a critical role in linking the population to health services, yet little is known of their influence on patients' TB treatment non-adherence in Kenya. OBJECTIVE: To analyze HCW-related factors associated with TB treatment non-adherence among patients in Kisumu East Sub-County. METHODS: Health facility-based analytical cross-sectional mixed-method study. A Semi-structured questionnaire on treatment adherence and patients' perceptions of HCWs during the clinic visit was administered to 102 consenting adult (out of a total census of 107 adults) drug-susceptible TB patients. 12 purposively selected HCWs by rank from 6 health facilities participated in Key Informant Interview sessions. Medication adherence was measured using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale and then expressed as a dichotomous variable. Quantitative analysis utilized STATA version 15.1 while qualitative deductive thematic analysis was done using NVIVO version 14. RESULTS: TB treatment non-adherence rate of 26% (CI: 18% - 36%) was recorded. Overall, patients who felt supported in dealing with the illness were 8 times more likely to adhere to treatment compared to those who were not (aOR = 7.947, 95% CI: 2.214 - 28.527, p = 0.001). Key HCW related factors influencing adherence to treatment included: friendliness (cOR = 4.31, 95% CI: 1.514 - 12.284, p = 0.006), respect (cOR = 6.679, 95% CI: 2.239 - 19.923, p = 0.001) and non-discriminatory service (cOR = 0.1478, 95% CI: 0.047 - 0.464, p = 0.001), communication [adequacy of consultation time (cOR = 6.563, 95% CI: 2.467 - 17.458, p = 0.001) and patients' involvement in their health decisions (cOR = 3.02 95% CI: 1.061 - 8.592, p = 0.038)] and education and counselling (cOR = 4.371, 95% CI: 1.725 - 11.075, p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: The study results underline importance of patient-centered consultation for TB patients and targeted education and counselling for improved treatment adherence.