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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1529687
A mixed-method study to describe patients knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding digital technologies for TB control in the
Provisionally accepted
Julio Arturo Canario-Guzmán1*
Ricardo Elias-Melgen1Eddys Rafael Mendoza1
Luis Felipe Arias1Roberto Espinal1Jeannette Báez1Sarah Iribarren2- 1Centro Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Materno Infantil Dr. Hugo Mendoza (CENISMI), Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Dominican Republic
- 2University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States
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Introduction: Video Observed-Therapy, a digital adherence technologies (DAT), could improve patients' adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment. However, countries with high TB burden countries, such as the Dominican Republic, struggle to adopt DAT as a control and prevention tool to improve clinical outcomes. Objectives: To describe patients' knowledge, attitudes and behaviors towards digital technologies for TB control and prevention in the Dominican Republic. Methods: A mixed-method study was implemented by organizing two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and a survey with 137 TB patients. Qualitative data were coded using the Integrated Behavior Model (IBM) and descriptive statistics were used to analyze knowledge, attitudes, practices, and preferences. Data integration was achieved by comparing convergent and divergent results. Results: Participants expressed a positive attitude towards using DAT to facilitate communication with health personnel to support treatment adherence. Participants noted the benefit of having an application that facilitates this process while safeguarding data privacy. Conclusions: This study demonstrates positive attitudes among individuals with TB toward adopting digital tools in their follow-up. Current practices suggest that intent to use DAT is prevalent, emphasizing the need to fully transition from intention to adoption of DAT to improve TB treatment outcomes.
Keywords: video observed therapy, Digital adherence technologies, Tuberculosis, Patient monitoring, Dominican Republic
Received: 21 Nov 2024; Accepted: 11 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Canario-Guzmán, Elias-Melgen, Mendoza, Arias, Espinal, Báez and Iribarren. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Julio Arturo Canario-Guzmán, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Materno Infantil Dr. Hugo Mendoza (CENISMI), Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Dominican Republic
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.