Suchergebnisse

BACKGROUND: Non-adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment is the most important cause of poor TB outcomes, and improving support for TB patients is a primary priority for governments, but there has been little research on the effects of family, social and national policy support factors on TB treatment adherence. The current study evaluated treatment adherence among newly diagnosed TB patients in Dalian, north-eastern China, and determined the effects of family, society, and national policy support factors on treatment adherence. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among newly diagnosed TB patients treated at the outpatient department of Dalian Tuberculosis Hospital from September 2019 to January 2020. Data were collected using a questionnaire that measured medication adherence, family support, social support, and national policy support and so on. Differences between groups were assessed using Chi-square tests and Fisher's exact tests. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of adherence. RESULTS: A total of 481 newly diagnosed TB patients were recruited, of whom 45.7% had good adherence, and 27.4 and 26.8% had moderate and low adherence, respectively. Patients who had family members who frequently supervised medication (OR:0.34, 95% CI:0.16–0.70), family members who often provided spiritual encouragement (OR:0.13, 95% CI:0.02–0.72), a good doctor-patient relationship (OR:0.61, 95% CI:0.40–0.93), more TB-related knowledge (OR:0.49, 95% CI:0.33–0.72) and a high need for TB treatment policy support (OR:0.38, 95% CI:0.22–0.66) had satisfactory medication adherence. However, patients who had a college degree or higher (OR:1.69, 95% CI:1.04–2.74) and who suffered adverse drug reactions (OR:1.45, 95% CI:1.00–2.11) were more likely to have lower adherence. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that non-adherence was high in newly diagnosed TB patients. Patients who had family members who frequently supervised medication and provided spiritual encouragement and a good ...

The race against climate change has been a great challenge for years, and the UK government has taken serious steps towards achieving the net-zero carbon target by 2050. Technology is leading the way and innovation is believed to be a key solution. Nevertheless, tackling the issue, by attempting to limit the waste in energy, due to negative energy usage behaviour, has proven to be a successful approach that is capable of complementing other technology-based initiatives. The first step towards this is to promote energy-conscious behaviour and pinpoint where savings can be made. Thereby, this paper contributes to the existing literature, by presenting a new methodology to identify potential energy waste and negative energy usage behaviour in an NHS hospital. The paper presents an analysis of electricity consumption vs occupancy during minimal consumption periods (i.e, bank holidays and weekends) and it presents a log of equipment left switched on outside of working hours, in order to highlight the level of energy-conscious behaviour. The results revealed that the proposed technique is not only able to identify negative energy usage behaviour amongst the hospital staff but helps identify areas where immediate energy savings can be made, with potential savings of more than 30,000 pounds, if action is taken.