Patient satisfaction with care at directly observed therapy programs for tuberculosis in New York City.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined patients' satisfaction with New York State's tuberculosis (TB) directly observed therapy (DOT) programs in New York City.


METHODS
A survey was conducted of 435 patients at 19 public, private, and community-based TB DOT clinics about their satisfaction with various aspects of the programs.


RESULTS
Patients identified the opportunity to receive good medical care as the most important aspect of TB DOT. Also significant was the supportiveness of DOT staff. Receiving incentives to encourage participation was statistically less important. Half of the patients reported being better off with DOT than with self-supervised care.


CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms the value of patient-focused care among inner-city TB patients.
Davidson
H
H
Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass., USA. hdavidso@caregroup.harvard.edu
Smirnoff
M
M
Klein
S J
SJ
Burdick
E
E
D000328:Adult; D003151:Community Health Centers; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012944:Social Support; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy*