Social support and its associated factors among people on drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment in three selected hospitals in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study design

OBJECTIVE: Social support is an important factor for psychosocial well-being and motivation to follow the treatment strictly in people with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). Thus, this study aimed to determine the availability of social support and its association factors in people with DR-TB in selected hospitals in Ethiopia. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Addis Ababa (at Saint Peter and ALERT hospitals) and Bishoftu Hospital in Ethiopia. The study involved 130 people with DR-TB from January to May 2023. PARTICIPANTS: All adult people on DR-TB treatment for at least 2 months were enrolled consecutively from the registration book. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were entered to Open Data Kit and analysed with SPSS V.22. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of the participants. A linear regression model was used to assess factors associated with social support. MAIN OUTCOME: Availability of social support from different sources. RESULTS: The overall proportion of availability of social support obtained from different sources was 97.7% with 95% CI of (93.1% to 99.5%). Sex (β=0.61, 95% CI (0.28 to 0.94); p<0.001), marital status (β=0.59, 95% CI (0.26 to 0.93); p=0.001) and patient self-stigma score (β=0.60, 95% CI (0.42 to 0.78); p<0.001) were significantly associated with social support score. CONCLUSIONS: A considerable proportion of people with DR-TB were obtaining social support from different sources. Interventions targeted female sex, single marital status and perceived social stigma are required to enhance social support conditions in people with DR-TB.