The Perception and Life Experience of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients during Treatments in Jakarta, Indonesia: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious respiratory disease and still remains a significant health problem in Indonesia. Combating TB is paramount as the drop out and relapse of patients are still high. Generally, there are two types of TB patients, which are: TB patient category I and category II. Someone who never suffered and very first had TB treatment is the characteristic of type 1 whereas relapsed or have second (or several) times of treatment are the characteristic of category II. The aim of this study is to explore the experience of tuberculosis patients who had relapsed; TB patient category II. This research was conducted in Jakarta, Indonesia for seven months (March – October, 2014). The qualitative method with phenomenological approach was conducted in this study. Ten participants, with relapse case that are usually visiting the outpatient of pulmonology department in a respiratory hospital in Jakarta were selected using the purposive sampling and interviewed using semi-structured questions. The data were analysed using conventional content analysis and has been saturated. This study found four themes: the perception of tuberculosis, the impact of tuberculosis on patients, the challenge of TB patients during their treatment and the support from family. These results of this study can be used as the information for the healthcare professional, especially community nurse, to improve TB program such as, increasing health education program, so that the incidence of the relapse in TB patients can be reduced.