Patient perceptions of a tuberculosis testing program provided in the community pharmacy setting

• Published in: Public health (London) Vol. 181; pp. 135 - 140
• Main Authors: Jakeman, B., Logothetis, S.J., Saba, M., Anderson, D., Acosta, J.M., Borrego, M.E., Roberts, M.H., Bachyrycz, A., Fortune, D., Burgos, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01-04-2020; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Age differences; Chi-square test; Community involvement; Community participation; Community pharmacists; Community pharmacy; Drug stores; Health care; Medical personnel; Patients; Perceptions; Pharmacies; Pharmacist; Pharmacists; Pharmacy; Polls & surveys; Primary care; Public health; Skin tests; Statistical significance; Statistical tests; Statistics; Testing; TST; Tuberculin; Tuberculosis; Uptake; Pharmacist; Tuberculosis; TST; Community pharmacy; Public health; Testing
• ISSN: 0033-3506; 1476-5616
• DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2019.12.010

This study sought to describe patient experiences and perceptions of a public health initiative designed to improve tuberculosis (TB) testing access using the tuberculin skin test (TST) in a community pharmacy setting.
This was a cross-sectional study.
A telephonic survey of patients who had received a TST at one of twelve participating community pharmacies between August 2014 and July 2016 was conducted. The 26-question survey was developed by two pharmacists with expertise in TB management and one pharmacy student. Before administration the survey was peer-reviewed for clarity. Potential study patients were identified through TST records at the study pharmacies. English-speaking patients older than 18 years were eligible for study inclusion. Statistical differences in responses based on location were identified using chi-squared test for frequency comparisons with a P-value of <0.05 to determine statistical significance.
A total of 1709 patients received a TST during the study period, of whom 431 were contacted and 325 participated, meeting the predetermined representative sample needed of 314 patients. The majority of study patients were female (67.1%) and white (81%). The mean age was 36 years (standard deviation = 14.1). A majority (68.3%) lived <5 miles from the TST pharmacy, while 45.2% of those with a primary care provider (PCP) (61.6% of respondents) lived within 5 miles of the PCP's office. Care was accessible and met patients' testing needs. For most patients (84.6%), the initial and follow-up appointments took < 20 min. Follow-up TST reading rate was 98.5%; 4.3% of tests were positive. Positive TST results were associated with use of a small city pharmacy (P = 0.003). Perception differences based on location were identified.
Uptake of the TST service in the community pharmacy setting was high and patients reported positive experiences.
•1709 tuberculin skin tests (TSTs) were performed in 12 community pharmacies during the evaluation period.•Survey results indicated that a high percentage of patients (38.8%) using the service do not have a primary care provider.•Community pharmacies are conveniently located for patients, with 68% of patients living within 5 miles of their pharmacy.•The majority of patients (85%) reported that both the initial and follow-up testing appointments took ≤20 min.•Patient perceptions of the TST service provided in a community pharmacy were favorable, and uptake of the service was high.