Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Janice Lomg

Abstract

More than 10 million people in the United States are known to have latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), and more than 300,000 begin treatment for LTBI annually. However, many fail to adhere to therapy for numerous reasons. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the impact of a new guideline, Targeted Tuberculin Testing and the Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis, at inner-city tuberculosis (TB) control clinic in the United States. The practice-focused question for the project asked if the implementation of the clinical guideline using a shorter regimen improved LTBI treatment adherence. The health beliefs model was the framework used to guide the project. I analyzed data from deidentified LTBI treatment adherence records of 12 patients before the change to the shorter treatment regimens and 12 patient records 1 year after the change. Results after implementation of the new treatment guideline showed no improvement in adherence. Before the guideline implementation, 75% (n=9) of individuals had adhered to traditional therapy whereas, after the shortened course was implemented, only 66.7% (n=8) of the random sample adhered to treatment. It is important to evaluate new methods of treatment and determine success early to promote health and reduce complications of ineffective treatment of TB. These results can support positive social change by raising awareness of the need to evaluate new treatment effectiveness early. Such knowledge can help providers and clinicians examine the barriers to adherence to the medications used for treating TB and implement appropriate measures to overcome the obstacles.

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