Health care workers' fears associated with working in multidrug- and or extensively-resistant tuberculosis wards in South Africa
OBJECTIVE: To assess health care workers' (HCWs') fears of working in multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) or extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) wards.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from June to September 2009 in 24 drug-resistant TB hospitals across South Africa. HCWs completed a self-administered questionnaire, including one open-ended question regarding personal concerns about their fear of contracting MDR- or XDR-TB. Responses were analysed by content analysis.
RESULTS: Among the 24 hospitals, 499 HCWs were surveyed, of whom 363 (73%) responded to the open-ended question: 286 (86%) were nurses, 38 (11%) medical officers and 10 (3%) others. Six major themes regarding fears associated with the personal risk of acquiring drug-resistant TB emerged. These included the fear of 1) developing MDR- and XDR-TB, 2) the treatment course, 3) the financial implications, 4) family concerns, 5) working environment and 6) psychosocial issues.
CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the greatest fear of HCWs working in drug-resistant TB wards is contracting MDR- or XDR-TB and infecting others. This fear may negatively impact the provision of quality patient-centred care, and highlights the need for training of HCWs in infection control measures, and specifically on how HCWs can protect themselves and others from developing TB.
Keywords: MDR-TB; XDR-TB; health care worker; tuberculosis
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA 2: South African Medical Research Council TB Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit, Pretoria, South Africa 3: Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Publication date: 01 October 2013
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