Are We Doing Enough to Stem the Tide of Acquired MDR-TB in Countries with High TB Burden? Results of a Mixed Method Study in Chongqing, China

Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) represents a threat to health and development in countries with high TB burden. China’s MDR-TB prevalence rate of 6.8 % is the highest in the world. Interventions to remove barriers against effective TB control, and prevention of MDR-TB are urgently needed in the country. This paper reports a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 513 pulmonary TB (PTB) patients, and qualitative interviews of 10 healthcare workers (HCWs), and 15 PTB patients. The objective was to assess barriers against effective control of PTB and prevention of MDR-TB by elucidating the perspectives of patients and healthcare providers. Results showed that more than half of the patients experienced patient delay of over 12.5 days. A similar proportion also experienced detection delay of over 30 days, and delay in initiating treatment of over 31 days. Consulting a non-TB health facility $3 times before seeking care at TB dispensary was a risk factor for both detection delay [AOR (95 % CI): 1.89(1.07, 3.34) and delay in initiating treatment[AOR (95 % CI): 1.88 (1.06, 3.36). Results revealed poor implementation of Directly Observed Therapy (DOT), whereby treatment of 34.3 % patients was never monitored by HCWs. Only 31.8 % patients had ever accessed TB health education before their TB diagnosis. Qualitative data consistently disclosed long patient delay, and indicated that patient’s poor TB knowledge and socioeconomic barrier