Life experiences of patients who have completed tuberculosis treatment: a qualitative investigation in southeast Brazil

BMC Public Health

Rosely Moralez de Figueiredo²  Egberto Ribeiro Turato¹  Daniela Maria Falcão de Oliveira²  Ana Angélica Lima Dias² 

[1] Department of Medical Psychology and Psychiatry, Laboratory of Clinical-Qualitative Research, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Cidade Universitária, Campinas, SP, Brazil;Nursing Post-Graduation Program, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), Rod. Washington Luís, Km 235, São Carlos, SP, Brazil

关键词: Qualitative research;    Therapeutics;    Cost of illness;    Tuberculosis;   

Others  :  1162087
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-13-595

 received in 2012-09-11, accepted in 2013-05-31,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Despite being curable, tuberculosis is still a stigmatized disease. Not only is TB patients’ suffering due to its clinical manifestations, but also because of society’s prejudice, embarrassing situations, and even self-discrimination. This study aims to investigate psychosocial experiences of patients who have completed tuberculosis treatment in São Carlos a municipality in the interior of São Paulo State, Brazil.

Methods

This study, of a clinical-qualitative nature, sought to understand the meanings provided by the participants themselves. Fifteen individuals, who had successfully completed tuberculosis treatment, participated in this research. The sample size was established using the information saturation criterion. Data were collected by means of interviews with in-depth open-ended questions. Data were treated by categorizing and analyzing content according to themes.

Results

Regardless of all progress, this study found that TB still causes patients to suffer from fear of transmission, social prejudice, and death. Despite the fact that the emotional support provided by families and healthcare professionals is considered essential to treatment adherence and completion, participants in this study reveal that friends and colleagues have distanced themselves from them for fear of contagion and/or prejudice. Ignorance about the disease and its transmission modes can be found in the interviewees’ statements, which seems to indicate that they have become vectors of transmission of stigma themselves. Patients’ medical leave from work during treatment may be due to both their health conditions and their attempt to avoid social/emotional embarrassment. There are accounts that TB has caused psychosocial damage to patients’ lives and that they feel more fatigue and lassitude and have begun to pay more attention to their own health.

Conclusions

Healthcare workers should be aware of the ways TB treatment affect patients’ psychosocial life and develop strategies to mitigate these effects and provide opportunities for them to share their anxiety, suffering, and bio-psychosocial changes. In addition, healthcare professionals should seek to educate and, as a result, empower TB patients and their families with regard to this disease so as to break the existing vicious cycle of misinformation and prejudice.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Dias et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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