2022 Volume 25 Issue 3 Pages 29-36
Objective: The number of foreign tuberculosis patients in Japan has been increasing. The incidence is higher in people from Asia. To provide support suitable for patients born abroad in regional DOTS, identifying contributing factors for treatment default specific to their countries is required. Our objective is to extract contributing factors for default in tuberculosis patients born in Vietnam（hereinafter referred to as Vietnamese tuberculosis patients）showing the highest incidence in foreign tuberculosis patients in Japan in recent years, to identify factors contributing to treatment default in these patients and to obtain suggestions for such factors.
Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with five interpreters who have experience of interpretation for Vietnamese patients in regional DOTS and are familiar with medical terms on contributing factors for default to perform qualitative inductive analysis.
Results: Five categories were extracted: “Economic burden of tuberculosis treatment”, “Burden of hospital visits”, “Knowledge of tuberculosis that is incorrectly understood”, “Prejudices against the patients receiving tuberculosis treatment”, and “Absence of people close to the patients who support them to receive the treatment”.
Discussion: The interpreters considered that contributing factors for default are things that influence the patients’ daily life in Japan including costs for the treatment and time spent for hospital visits. They considered that a lack of correct knowledge of tuberculosis is also a contributing factor. Prejudice against tuberculosis was also recognized as a contributing factor. Vietnamese tuberculosis patients need to have trustworthy people who support their medication adherence to continue treatment in Japan.
