How effective are teleconsults to persuade patients of pulmonary tuberculosis of avoiding to use public transport at Lima City?

Abstract

We have selected 12 pulmonary Tuberculosis patients from Peri-urban zones of Lima city where all of them are still using public transport to visit hospitals and health centers. Patients were involved in the testing of a prototype of teleconsult which was based in phone calls and text messages giving as result that the number of hours/month of mobility of TB patient in Lima city using buses and minibuses was reduced in average in a 6.4±3%. However, when teleconsult is combined to an aggressive program of nurse's visit it might be possible that the number of hours/month would be reduced by a 44.7± 6 %. This result might indicate that eHealth system applied to TB patients would need of human assistance in a first phase of implementation, until patient becomes well trained in the usage of the eHealth software and related details.