Background
Stigmatising and
discriminating attitudes may discourage tuberculosis (TB) patients from
actively seeking medical care, hide their disease status, and discontinue
treatment. It is expected that appropriate knowledge regarding TB should remove
stigmatising and discriminating attitudes. In this study we assessed the
prevalence of stigmatising and discriminating attitudes towards TB patients
among general population and their association with knowledge regarding TB.
Method
A cross-sectional
knowledge, attitude and practice survey was conducted in 30 districts of India
in January-March 2011. A total of 4562 respondents from general population were
interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires which contained items to
measure stigma, discrimination and knowledge on TB.
Result
Of the 4562 interviewed,
3823 were eligible for the current analysis. Of these, 73% (95% CI 71.4–74.2)
had stigmatising and 98% (95% CI 97.4–98.3) had discriminating attitude towards
TB patients. Only 17% (95% CI 15.6–18.0) of the respondents had appropriate
knowledge regarding TB with even lower levels observed amongst females, rural
areas and respondents from low income groups. Surprisingly stigmatising
(adjusted OR 1.31 (0.78–2.18) and discriminating (adjusted OR 0.79 (0.43–1.44)
attitudes were independent of knowledge regarding TB.
Conclusion
Stigmatising and
discriminating attitudes towards TB patients remain high among the general
population in India. Since these attitudes were independent of the knowledge
regarding TB, it is possible that the current disseminated knowledge regarding
TB which is mainly from a medical perspective may not be adequately addressing
the factors that lead to stigma and discrimination towards TB patients.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to review the messages and strategies
currently used for disseminating knowledge regarding TB among general
population and revise them appropriately. The disseminated knowledge should
include medical, psycho-social and economic aspects of TB that not only informs
people about medical aspects of TB disease, but also removes stigma and
discrimination.
Statements as part of the KAP survey tool to capture stigmatising and discriminating attitudes.
| Stigmatising Attitudes | Now I Will Make Some Statements About People Suffering From TB. Please Let Me Know How Much You Agree To These? | Strongly Agree* | Somewhat Agree* | Disagree |
| 1 | A family with TB patient should not be allowed to participate in any social function | |||
| 2 | Married female TB patient should be sent off to her parent’s house | |||
| 3 | Children with TB should not be allowed to go to school | |||
| 4 | Children of parents suffering from TB should not be allowed to go to school | |||
| 5 | Daily wage Laborer, suffering from TB should not be allowed to work | |||
| 6 | TB patient are threat to community | |||
| 7 | TB patients should be left isolated in the community | |||
| Discriminating Attitudes | Which of the following you would agree to do? | Yes | No | **DK/CS |
| 1 | Share a meal with person you know had TB | |||
| 2 | If you suspect one of the female member is suffering from TB, would you take her to hospital | |||
| 3 | Marry your daughter to a boy knowing had a TB | |||
| 4 | Isolate your family member having TB in the house | |||
| 5 | Marry your son to a girl who you know had TB | |||
| 6 | Send your daughter in law to parent’s house if she had TB in order to protect other family members from TB |
* Strongly agree and somewhat agree have been considered as affirmatives for stigmatising attitudes
** Don’t know/Can’t say
Full article at: http://goo.gl/2V326x
Selvakumar Subbian, Editor
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests
exist.
Conceived and designed the
experiments: KDS SS SSC. Performed the experiments: KDS. Analyzed the data: KDS
SS SSC. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: KDS SS SSC. Wrote the
paper: KDS SS SSC.
* E-mail: moc.liamg@sanurakrd
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
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