Table 1. Baseline demographic characteristics of participants.
| Characteristic |
TB patients (N = 63) |
Social supporters (N = 42) |
Stratification of TB patients by arm (n % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily SMS (n = 22) | Weekly SMS (n = 20) |
Control (n = 21) |
|||
| Median age (IQR) | 35 (28–44) | 35.5 (28–44) | 37.5 (32–54) | 31 (25.5–41) | 37 (30–43) |
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 37 (59%) | 14 (33%) | 14 (64%) | 13 (65%) | 10 (48%) |
| Female | 26 (41%) | 28 (66%) | 8 (36%) | 7 (35%) | 11 (52%) |
| Marital status | |||||
| Married | 40 (64%) | 29 (69%) | 16 (73%) | 14 (70%) | 10 (48%) |
| Single | 23 (36%) | 13 (31%) | 6 (27%) | 6 (30%) | 11 (52%) |
| Type of residence | |||||
| Town | 32 (51%) | 22 (52%) | 8 (36%) | 11 (55%) | 13 (62%) |
| Rural | 31 (49%) | 20 (48%) | 14 (64%) | 9 (45%) | 8 (38%) |
| Level of education | |||||
| None | 1 (2%) | 2 (4%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (5%) | 0 (0%) |
| P1-P7 | 25 (40%) | 15 (36%) | 12 (55%) | 5 (25%) | 8 (38%) |
| >P7 | 37 (59%) | 25 (60%) | 10 (45%) | 14 (70%) | 13 (62%) |
| Income (fixed wages/ salary) | |||||
| Yes | 16 (25%) | 10 (28%) | 4 (18%) | 5 (25%) | 7 (33%) |
| No | 47 (75%) | 32 (72%) | 18 (82%) | 15 (75%) | 14 (67%) |
| Heavy alcohol consumption a | |||||
| Yes | 7 (11%) | 4 (10%) | 2 (9%) | 3 (15%) | 2 (9%) |
| No | 56 (89%) | 38 (90%) | 20 (91%) | 17 (85%) | 19 (91%) |
| TB stigma b | |||||
| Median stigma (IQR) | 2 (1–4) | n/a | 2 (1–4) | 2 (1–5) | 2 (1–3) |
| Enough social support | |||||
| Yes | 49 (78%) | n/a | 17 (77%) | 17 (85%) | 15 (71%) |
| No | 14 (22%) | 5 (23%) | 3 (15%) | 6 (29%) | |
| Food Insecurity c | |||||
| Severe Food Insecure | 33 (52%) | 17 (40%) | 10 (45%) | 11 (55%) | 12 (57%) |
| Food secure | 30 (48%) | 25 (60%) | 12 (55%) | 9 (45%) | 9 (43%) |
| Probable depression d | |||||
| Yes | 11 (18%) | 2 (5%) | 4 (18%) | 3 (18%) | 4 (19%) |
| No | 52 (82%) | 40 (95%) | 18 (82%) | 17 (82%) | 17 (81%) |
| Asset index e | |||||
| Lowest quartile | 17 (27%) | 11 (26%) | 7 (32%) | 5 (26%) | 5 (24%) |
| 25–100% quintiles | 45 (73%) | 31 (74%) | 15 (68%) | 14 (74%) | 16 (76%) |
| Disclosed TB Status to anyone other than healthcare provider | |||||
| Yes | 52 (83%) | n/a | 18 (82%) | 16 (80%) | 18 (86%) |
| No | 11 (17%) | n/a | 4 (18%) | 4 (20%) | 3 (14%) |
| HIV status | |||||
| Negative | 10 (16%) | 26 (62%) | 3 (14%) | 3 (15%) | 4 (19%) |
| Positive | 53 (84%) | 16 (38%) | 19 (86%) | 17 (85%) | 17 (81%) |
| Social support relationship to the study participant | |||||
| Spouse | 22 (52%) | ||||
| Family member | 16 (38%) | ||||
| Friend | 4 (10%) | ||||
Notes: aScreening for heavy drinking was based on the AUDIT-C (Bush et al., 1998).
bTB stigma was measured using the internalized stigma scale (Kalichman et al 2009).
cFood insecurity was assessed using the nine item Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) by Coates, Swindale & Bilisnky (2006).
dDepression was measured using the measure proposed by Bolton, Wilk, and Ndogoni. (2004).
eAsset index was measured using the measure proposed by Filmer and Pritchett (2001).