The cluster random sampling method was used and 124 patients with TB, who stayed at the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Chest Hospital for TB treatment from April to October 2016, were randomly sampled and involved in this study. The TB consultation services were provided to the enrolled patients and a patient-centered approach was used during this intervention. The related information was collected before and after the intervention was carried out, and the situation of TB knowledge awareness and the degree of patients’ satisfaction to the counseling services were analyzed and compared. SPSS 17.0 version software package was used for the descriptive analysis of the data. The Chi-square test was used to compare the rates and P<0.05 was regarded to have statistically significant difference.

The overall rate of the patients who gave correct answers to the TB related knowledge in 124 cases was significantly improved from 54.23% (1614/2976) before the intervention to 77.79% (2315/2976) after the intervention (χ ²=12.37, P=0.000). Before the intervention, the highest awareness rate (78.23% (97/124)) to the single TB related knowledge in 124 patients was regarding to the knowledge of “TB can be cured” while this rate was the lowest (12.90% (16/124)) regarding to the knowledge of “Sputum examination time during the treatment of susceptible pulmonary TB patients”; after the intervention, the highest awareness rate (99.19% (123/124)) to the single TB related knowledge in 124 patients was regarding to the knowledge of “TB can be transmitted through the air” while this rate was the lowest (45.16% (56/124)) regarding to the knowledge of “Sputum examination time during the treatment of susceptible pulmonary TB patients”. The awareness rate of the patients regarding to the following TB related knowledge were significantly increased after the intervention compared to those before the intervention, including the knowledge related to TB treatment (80.65% (700/868) vs 57.60% (500/868); χ ²=12.45, P=0.000), the knowledge related to the modes of TB transmission (78.76% (293/372) vs 56.45% (210/372); χ ²=11.36, P=0.000), the knowledge related to the measures for preventing TB transmission (82.80% (616/744) vs 59.95% (446/744); χ ²=12.78, P=0.000), the knowledge related to the common symptoms of TB (77.02% (382/496) vs 55.85% (277/496); χ ²=10.05, P=0.002), and the knowledge related to the reasons of drug resistant TB development (65.32% (324/496) vs 36.49% (181/496); χ ²=16.63, P=0.000). The overall satisfaction rate of the patients to the counseling services was 93.55% (116/124); the patients’ satisfaction rate to the “Attitude of the consulting services providers” was the lowest (87.10%, 108/124).

The counseling services providing to the patients with TB can help the patients to better understand the knowledge related to TB prevention and treatment, change their behaviors and improve their treatment adherence.