Abstract
Economic, social and psychological distress is common in individuals affected with tuberculosis (TB). However, the magnitude of distress, psychological interventions and their effect on the treatment outcomes are often under-evaluated. We examined the level of psychological stress and Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of such patients and the effect of antituberculosis therapy on them.
Our prospective cohort study included newly diagnosed adult pulmonary (PTB) and extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) patients. Assessment of psychological stress was done using Generalised Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7) for anxiety and Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9 for depression. The HRQoL was assessed by the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire.
Of the 86 patients studied, 21 (24.4%) had anxiety symptoms at the baseline which reduced to 5.8% and 1.2% at two months and treatment completion, respectively (p<0.001). Among the subjects, 18 (20.9%) patients had depression which reduced to 7% and 2.3% at two months and treatment completion, respectively (p<0.001). All the mean domain scores of HRQoL were poor at the baseline, which showed improvement at the treatment completion (p<0.001).
Anxiety and depression were common among TB patients, and there is significant progressive reduction during and after the treatment. TB had remarkable negative impacts on HRQoL, with the physical domain being the most affected, and all the domain scores showed significant improvement at treatment completion. Routine screening for depression and anxiety and timely referral to a psychiatrist is required in TB patients to improve the outcome of the disease and the quality of life.
Footnotes
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Conflict of interest: Dr Febi Ann Roy received a RNTCP PG thesis grant of 30000 INR from Govt of Karnataka for operational research in 2018. She has no other conflict of interest to declare.
Conflict of interest: Mohan K. Manu has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Aswini Kumar Mohapatra has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Samir Kumar Praharaj has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Vasudeva Guddattu has nothing to disclose.
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- Received April 11, 2021.
- Accepted June 21, 2021.
- Copyright ©The authors 2021
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