Quality of life and associating factors in pulmonary tuberculosis patients

BackgroundQuality of life is a significant issue among patients with tuberculosis and is used for evaluating treatment responses and therapeutic outcome. This study aimed to assess the quality of life in tuberculosis patients receiving anti-tuberculosis therapy for a short duration in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu and its associated variables.MethodsA cross-sectional study was designed to evaluate pulmonary tuberculosis patients receiving treatment under category −1 registered in the NIKSHAY portal at Vellore. A total of 165 pulmonary tuberculosis patients were recruited from March 2021 to the third week of June 2021. On obtaining informed consent, the data were collected through the telephone interview by administering WHOQOL- BREF structured questionnaire. The data were examined with descriptive and analytical statistics. Multiple regression analysis for independent quality of life variables was done.ResultsThe lowest median scores, 31(25,38) & 38(25,44) was, related to psychological and environmental domains, respectively. In addition, the Man-Whitney & Kruskal Wallis showed a statistically significant variation in the mean quality of life for gender, employment status, duration of treatment, persistent symptoms, the location of residence of patients, and the stage of therapy. Age, gender, marital status, and persistent symptoms were the main associating factor.ConclusionTuberculosis and its treatment influence psychological, physical functioning, and the environmental domain of patient quality of life. Attention is required in the follow-up and treatment of patients by monitoring their quality of life.