Drugstore personnel's management of a tuberculosis suspect: consideration of actual and perceived management

Abstract

To explore drugstore personnel's knowledge and practice on management of a suspected case of tuberculosis (TB). Method Seventy randomly selected drugstores in Songkhla province of Southern Thailand were visited by simulated clients (SCs) who asked for medication for relieving a one-month cough with fever. All questions asked by the drugstore personnel, advice given and drugs dispensed were noted and analysed. The drugstores were subsequently visited and the managers were interviewed. Key findings For the SC study, 55 out of 70 (79%) drugstore personnel took a history before dispensing drugs, but only 14 (20%) asked about cough duration. Only four drugstore personnel identified TB as a possible diagnosis for a case with one-month cough and fever, and only three recommended the SC to see a doctor. From the interviews, 46 (66%) perceived the probability of encountering TB at their workplace to be low, The knowledge on symptoms of suspected TB was poor. Sixty-eight (97%) would suspect TB if and only if the client with prolonged cough also had tiredness, weight loss, difficulty breathing or haemoptysis, In contrast to their practice with the SC, 46 (66%) claimed that they would recommend a client with one-month cough and fever to see a doctor, Conclusions The majority of drugstore personnel failed to detect suspected TB cases and did not give a proper referral, Interventions to educate drugstore personnel to recognise symptoms of suspected TB and to become aware in TB epidemics in this setting are urgently needed, © 2007 The Autnors.