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.