Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Aug 25;9(8):4174-4180.
doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1404_20. eCollection 2020 Aug.

The necessity of psychological interventions to improve compliance with Tuberculosis treatment and reduce psychological distress

Neeraj Agarwal  1 , Parth Sarthi  2
Affiliations

The necessity of psychological interventions to improve compliance with Tuberculosis treatment and reduce psychological distress

Neeraj Agarwal et al. J Family Med Prim Care. .

Abstract

Context: One of the major obstacles in treating TB is the patient's nonadherence to the treatment regimen resulting in prolonged disease transmission and development of resistance to anti-TB drugs. An individual's mental health affects his/her adaptation to the disease. Mental health issues and TB both are inextricably connected and research into this area will provide an opportunity to develop a more holistic model of TB treatment and prevention.

Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of mental health issues in patients with TB and its influence on individual perception of well-being with an emphasis on psychopathology as a major obstacle to treatment adherence. Research into this area will provide an opportunity to develop a more holistic model of TB treatment and prevention.

Settings and design: Primary data were collected with the help of ASHA workers, and primary survey-based study was designed.

Methods and material: A total of 249 diagnosed Tuberculosis cases were included in the study. A digitalized version of the PGIHQN-1 questionnaire was made and used to separate the psychiatric population from the normal group. Asha workers were trained to use the digital version on tablets.

Statistical analysis used: Using Microsoft Excel, Graphic Tables, and corelation were done using SPSS Statistics.

Results: Mental health issues were found in diagnosed TB cases, which required further evaluations. Along with mental health issues, limited resources, gender, limited education, lack of proper knowledge about the disease, having responsibilities (Marital status), locality were found to be the important factors that complicate TB outcomes, hence should be taken into consideration while imparting psychological interventions.

Conclusion: Mental health issues complicate TB outcome and hence need to be properly addressed, and thorough psychoeducation, psychological first aid (listen, protect, connect, model& teach), and timely intervention in the form of proper diagnosis and specific treatment and rehabilitation are needed.

Keywords: Anxiety and mood disorders; comorbidity; depression; medicine resistant tuberculosis; tuberculosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Psychological + Physical health distribution of TB patients. (b): Psychological + Physical health distribution: classification into poor, very poor, extremely poor, good, very good, extremely good, average
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a): Classification of physical health status. (b): Classification of physical health status into poor, very poor, extremely poor, good, very good, extremely good (EG), average (A)
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a): Classification of psychological health status. (b): Classification of psychological health status into poor, very poor, extremely poor, good, very good, extremely good, average
Figure 4
Figure 4
Physical health wise percentage distribution of overall distressed and stable TB patients
Figure 5
Figure 5
Gender wise percentage distribution of overall distressed and stable TB patients
Figure 6
Figure 6
Locality wise percentage distribution of overall distressed and stable TB patients
Figure 7
Figure 7
Employment status wise percentage distribution of week and good
Figure 8
Figure 8
Education-wise percentage distribution of weak and good
Figure 9
Figure 9
Marital status wise percentage distribution of week and goods
Figure 10
Figure 10
Age-wise percentage distribution
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization. Global Tuberculosis Report. Geneva: WHO; 2019.
    1. Central TB Division. TB India 2019 Revised National TB Control Programme Annual Status Report Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Available from: https://tbcindiagovin/WriteReadData/India%20TB%20Report%202019pdf .
    1. Dhingra VK, Khan S. A sociological study on stigma among TB patients in Delhi. Indian J Tuberc. 2010;57:12–8. - PubMed
    1. Rajeswari R, Muniyandi M, Balasubramanian R, Narayanan PR. Perceptions of tuberculosis patients about their physical, mental and social well-being: A field report from south India. Soc Sci Med. 2005;60:1845–53. - PubMed
    1. Purohit DR, Purohit SD, Dhariwal ML. Incidence of depression in hospitalized tuberculosis patients. Indian J TB. 1978;25:147–51.