Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Health

Advisor

Shari L. Jorissen

Abstract

Approximately 80% of people who contract tuberculosis (TB) in the United States are first infected with untreated latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). LTBI is an ongoing public health concern in people who experience homelessness. Because of the transient nature of this population, it is often difficult for them to adhere to and complete treatment for LTBI. In this quantitative, correlational of a cross-sectional study, secondary data was from a public health clinic in southern U.S. The theoretical framework used for the study was the social ecological framework. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine if a statistically significant predictive relationship existed between sociodemographic factors (i.e., age, gender, shelter type, substance abuse status); medication type (i.e., Directly Observed Therapy versus Self-Administered Therapy (DOT vs SAT); and treatment completion among persons experiencing homelessness treated for LTBI. Age and substance abuse status were found to be related to treatment completion at statistically significant levels (p < .05). A chi-square analysis showed no statistically significant difference in adherence to TB treatment by treatment type (i.e., DOT versus SAT; p = .831). Positive social change could stem from interventions and prevention that focuses on the demographic groups that were found to be related to treatment completion at statistically significant levels to provide support to these groups and increase LTBI treatment completion in people experiencing homelessness.

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