Quality of life among dots (directly observed treatment short course) cured patients: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Globally, 8.7 million people suffered with tuberculosis (TB) and 1.4 million deaths were reported in 2011. Tuberculosis may generate residual lesions in the course of its pathology, which impair the functionality and quality of life of the patient even after achieving "cure" or "treatment completion. The present study was therefore conducted with the objective of assessing the quality of life and the health seeking behavior and association of various sociodemographic factors with the above mentioned outcomes
Methods: The present study was a cross sectional study. It was conducted in the two TUs of Rudraprayag and Pauri in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand among the people who had completed treatment under directly observed Treatment shortcourse (DOTS) or had been declared as cured under revised national tuberculosis programme (RNTCP) in last one year. World Health Organization Quality of life –BREF (WHOQOL BREF) questionnaire (Hindi version) which is a specific instrument and covers four domains of health i.e. physical, psychological, social relationships and environment was used.
Results: The mean of all the domains was about three fourth or 75% of the maximum scores. The mean and median scores were also similar.
Conclusions: Quality of life of DOTS cured patients remains compromised even after days and months of treatment completion, thereby necessitating measures for the improvement of the overall health of the patients rather than just the microbiological cure.

Keywords: Quality of Life, Tuberculosis, DOTS