Evaluation of short-course for private doctors in managing children tuberculosis as part of a public-private mix in Surabaya, Indonesia

This study aimed to improve the private doctor’s role in discovering and managing cases of childhood tuberculosis (TB) according to the Directly Observed Treatment Short-course program. This quasi-experimental study with a pre-post design described 75 private doctors (intervention group) who assisted over two months in finding suspected TB children and 75 private doctors (control group). This study used descriptive quantitative data analysis. Sixty-three of the 75 doctors (84%) attended a course to assist suspected tuberculosis children with a moderate level of knowledge (60.0%). Most suspected tuberculosis children had close contact with adult tuberculosis patients (48.1%). The findings indicated that the intervention group, consisting of skilled private doctors, identified a greater number of children believed to have tuberculosis compared to the control group. There has been an increase in the identification of suspected tuberculosis children by private doctors who were through courses and the provision of routine assistance.