Tuberculosis and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (TB-DM) comorbidity care: Barriers from the patients’ perspective

Abstract

Objective

This study aims to explore the experiences of TB-DM patients for the service barriers encountered in achieving the expected outcomes.

Method

A qualitative study was conducted between June-August 2019. TB-DM patients were identified from community health centers, and hospital TB registers Yogyakarta City, Indonesia. Fourteen adult TB-DM patients were purposively selected using criterion sampling. They were those who had been cured or already completed the intensive phase of TB treatment from 2018 to 2019. In-depth interviews were carried out using interview guides and tape-recorded. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the verbatim transcripts.

Results

Four themes were identified: health services-related barriers, patient-related barriers, health provider-patients interaction-related barriers, and strategies to resolve the barriers.

Conclusion

TB-DM patients faced a cascade of barriers with accessing TB-DM care and supports. Re-orienting the health care system for more integrated chronic care readiness and improving patients’ capacity is critical to improving the quality of care.