Tuberculosis related stigma and delay in seeking care after the onset of symptoms associated with tuberculosis

摘要

Aim To determine association between tuberculosis (TB) relatedstigma and delay in seeking a treatment after the onset of symptomsassociated with tuberculosis.Methods This prospective study was carried out in the ?Podhrastovi“University Clinic of Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis andHealth facilities for lung diseases and tuberculosis in the Sarajevoarea. The sample consisted of 300 tuberculosis patients. Betweenpatients who consider TB a stigmatizing disease and patients whodid not consider TB a stigmatizing disease distribution of patientdelay was compared.Results Of the total of 300 patients 79 (26.3%) considered TB asocially stigmatizing disease. Among them 43 (54.4%) were femalesand 36 (45.6%) males. Among patients in the age group 18-24years, nine (50%) considered TB a socially stigmatizing diseasecompared to seven (12.3%) among patients in the age group 65-75years. Among patients with university degree, nine (64.3%) andamong patients that had no education, one (9.1%) declared TB asa socially stigmatizing disease. The average time interval from theappearance of first symptoms of tuberculosis until the first visitto a health care facility for those who consider TB a stigmatizingdisease was 6.41 weeks and for those who did not consider it astigmatizing disease the average time interval was 4.99 weeks.Conclusion Study results revealed high stigma-generating attitudestowards tuberculosis. Perceived TB related stigma had nostrong impact on patient delay in seeking care for TB symptoms