Multidimensional Health-Related Quality-of-Life Among Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the multi-dimensional health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among tuberculosis patients and examined its association between with their demographic profiles. A cross-sectional survey using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Tuberculosis (FACIT-TB) was carried out on a convenience sample of 87 tuberculosis patients at a large tertiary hospital operating the National TB Control Program (NTP) under the Ministry of Health, Western Region, Saudi Arabia. The overall HRQOL of the respondents is poor, whereas the different dimensions were rated as poor to moderate. The respondents' age, smoking status, duration of TB, experience of travelling outside KSA, and educational attainment exhibited significant association to some degree with some of the dimensions of HRQOL. Strategies to strengthen the treatment support could sustain acceptable levels of physical, social and emotional functioning among TB patients. The need to increase public awareness about tuberculosis is needed to ensure prompt healthcare seeking, early detection, adherence to remedy, and better prognosis.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQoL) AFFECTING WELL-BEING OF PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS (PTB) PATIENTS

“…Age of PTB patients was significantly associated with HRQoL as reported by nine studies (Suzuki et al, 2019;Dhelaimi et al, 2018;Malik et al, 2018;Hilka et al, 2017;Ting-Li et al, 2017;Kisaka et al, 2016;Atif et al, 2014;Aggarwal et al, 2013;Chamla, 2004). A lower scores in elderly patients might be associated with their old age and the expected decline in physical health with increasing age (Atif et al, 2014).…”

“…A lower scores in elderly patients might be associated with their old age and the expected decline in physical health with increasing age (Atif et al, 2014). It was also possible due to the existing of co-morbidities among older population where illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes are more prominent (Dhelaimi et al, 2018).…”

“…Level of education also play an important roles in affecting HRQoL (Dhelaimi et al, 2018;Malik et al, 2018;Hilka et al, 2017;Louw et al, 2016;Dujaili et al, 2015;Kakhki et al, 2015). Highly educated patients tend to have better health-seeking behavior and thus likely to report for treatment earlier than those who are less educated.…”

“…Smoking is another factor associated with HRQoL as demostrated by four articles (Dhelaimi et al, 2018;Dujaili et al, 2015;Kakhki et al, 2015;Atif et al, 2014). Smoking is known to…”

“…A higher bacillary load can augment the severity of disease which may adversely affect the patients' perception about their mental and physical health (Atif et al, 2014). Also, cigarette smoking can cause impaired social function because of a negative perception of others to cigarette smoking and the perceived harmful effects to health (Dhelaimi et al, 2018).…”