Summary
Advanced digital technologies, such as video directly observed therapy (VDOT), are increasingly used to support TB treatment adherence monitoring. However, missed VDOT sessions remain a challenge, particularly in low-resource settings. This study aimed to determine the factors associated with the number of missed VDOT submissions among patients using VDOT.
We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the DOT Selfie randomised controlled trial implemented in Uganda. The outcome of interest was the number of missed VDOT sessions throughout treatment. A negative binomial regression model was used to examine factors associated with the outcome. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals were reported.
Among the 71 patients included in the analysis, 32% were HIV positive. HIV co-infection (cIRR = 2.2; 1.2–4.0), age >30 years (cIRR = 2.0; 1.1–3.6), alcohol consumption (aIRR = 2.3; 1.1–5.1), being married (aIRR = 2.2; 1.1–4.1), and having ≤4 household members (aIRR = 1.9; 1.1–3.3) were associated with a higher incidence rate of missed VDOT sessions.
In this study, alcohol use and HIV co-infection independently affected missed video sessions. However, after adjusting for confounding, marital status and household size remained important factors that should be further studied.
