BackgroundThis study investigated the treatment outcomes, and factors affecting the outcomes, of new tuberculosis (TB) patients in Busan, South Korea.MethodsWe retrospectively analysed the citywide TB registry data (collected for the Korean National TB Surveillance System) of new TB patients registered in Busan from January 2014 to December 2015.ResultsA total of 4732 patients were included in this study (mean age, 52.5 ± 19.9 years; 58.4% male). The overall treatment success rate was 83.9% (cured, 20.2%; completed, 63.7%); 8.0% of patients died, and 3.6% were lost to follow-up. In multivariate analyses, a higher rate of loss to follow-up was associated with foreign nationality, registered as TB-positive at least twice, and being in Q4 (fourth quintile) or Q5 (fifth quintile) of the regional deprivation index. Conversely, a lower rate of loss to follow-up was associated with female gender, smear-positive for pulmonary TB (PTB), and the treatment outcome being reported by a public health centre. Higher mortality was associated with old age (≥ 75 years), smear-positive PTB, treatment outcome being reported by the hospital, and being registered as TB-positive twice. Lower mortality was associated with female gender, treatment outcome being reported by a public health centre or clinic, and Q5 of the regional deprivation index.ConclusionsTreatment outcomes of new TB patients were sub-optimal in Busan. TB control programs should maintain close monitoring and provide greater socioeconomic support to patients at high risk of poor treatment outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to examine the purchase intention of innovative new product (e.g., Galaxy Fold) by integrating behavioral reasoning theory (BRT) to the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) to test the relative influence of reasons for and reasons against adoption on purchase attitude and purchase intention of Korean consumers. A quantitative research method via an online survey was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The sample of the study was 242 Korean consumers who participated in the online survey. Structural equation modeling was conducted by using AMOS 21.0 to test the proposed relationships. The findings showed that value for changes positively related to the reasons for adoption and negatively related to reasons against adoption. Reasons for adoption (e.g., relative advantage, compatibility, simplicity) have a significant positive effect on the purchase attitude, and reasons against adoption (e.g., price barrier, performance barrier, usage barrier) have a significant negative effect on the purchase attitude. Finally, purchase attitude has a significant positive relationship to the purchase intention of innovative new product. The findings of this study offer significant theoretical and managerial contributions in the context of sustainable innovative new product development.

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