Association between concern about COVID-19, social support and knowledge with adherence to antituberculosis treatment in Lima, Peru

Introduction: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, information on factors associated with adherence to antituberculosis treatment in areas with a high prevalence of tuberculosis is scarce. Objective: To evaluate whether there is an association between social support, concern about COVID-19 infection and knowledge about tuberculosis, and non-adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study carried out in patients under anti-tuberculosis treatment during the months of January to March 2022 in centers located in areas of high prevalence of tuberculosis in Lima, Peru. We used the Morisky Green-Levine (MGL) questionnaire as dependent variable to assess adherence to treatment and as independent variables, Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS) for perceived social support, concern about contagion with COVID-19 (PRE-COVID-19), and the Battle Test that assesses the patient's knowledge about their disease. We used Poisson regression with robust variance to evaluate the association between the independent variables and the dependent variable (non-adherence to antituberculosis treatment). Results: Of a total of 101 participants (73.3% male and mean age 35.1 +/- 16 years), 51.5% were non-adherent to antituberculosis treatment. Medium or high level of concern about getting COVID 19 was associated with a higher prevalence of non-adherence to treatment (PR 1.68; 95% CI 1.09 - 2.57) (adjusted for confounders considered). Conclusions: Non-adherence is a frequent condition among patients in an area of high tuberculosis prevalence in Lima, Peru, especially among those with greater concern for COVID 19 infection.