Health care workers' recommendations for strengthening tuberculosis infection control in the Dominican Republic.

Objective: To describe health care workers' practical recommendations for strengthening adherence to infection control practices in their health institutions and elsewhere across the Dominican Republic.

Methods: In this qualitative study, 10 focus groups, with a total of 40 clinicians (24 physicians, 16 nurses), were conducted in 2016 at two tertiary-level institutions in the Dominican Republic. Grounded theory guided the analysis to expand on health care workers' recommendations for empowering clinicians to adhere to infection control practices.

The Role of Powerlessness Among Health Care Workers in Tuberculosis Infection Control.

Due to their occupational exposure in health care settings, health care workers (HCW) have increased risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. They face challenges to remain up-to-date with evidence-based clinical practices and translate educational information into actions in infection control practices. Our purpose was to examine this "knowledge-action" gap about how HCWs understand their occupational M.

Perceived Barriers to Adherence to Tuberculosis Infection Control Measures among Health Care Workers in the Dominican Republic.

INTRODUCTION Health care workers have an increased risk of infection due to occupational Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposure, including multidrug-resistant strains. Health care workers' risk of developing tuberculosis is greater than that of the general population, whether in low-, intermediate- or high-incidence countries. Adherence to infection control measures (administrative controls, environmental controls, and personal respiratory protection) is essential to reduce risk of disease transmission between suspected tuberculosis patients and health care workers, but for different reasons, both objective and subjective, adherence is low.

Culture and drug susceptibility testing among previously treated tuberculosis patients in the Dominican Republic, 2014.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a major public health concern that threatens global progress toward effective TB control. The risk of MDR-TB is increased in patients who have received previous TB treatment. This article describes the performance of culture and drug susceptibility testing (DST) in patients registered as previously treated TB patients in the Dominican Republic in 2014, based on operational research that followed a retrospective cohort design and used routine program data.

Tuberculosis patients in the Dominican Republic face severe direct and indirect costs and need social protection.

Objective: To examine direct and indirect costs incurred by new, retreatment, and multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) patients in the Dominican Republic before and during diagnosis, and during treatment, to generate an evidence base and formulate recommendations.

Methods: The "Tool to Estimate Patients' Costs" was adapted to the local setting, translated into Spanish, and pretested. Patients attending 32 randomly selected health facilities in six chosen study areas on the study days were interviewed.