Social discrimination to tuberculosis patients and its influencing factors

ObjectiveTo examine the prevalence and influencing factors of social discrimination to tuberculosis patients for making effective intervention to reduce the discrimination.MethodsTotally 720 tuberculosis patients registered from June 1,2010 to May 30,2012 were selected to conduct a face-to-face survey to collect relevant information.ResultsThe patients assigned an overall score of 23.38 ± 4.846 for being discriminated and the proportion of the patients assigning the score of 9-17,18-26,and 27-36 were 8.3%,64.4%,and 27.2%,respectively.Univariate analyses showed that education level,marital status,disease condition,age,and family size affected patient-perceived discrimination score.Logistic regression analyses showed that female and older age were risk factors of the discrimination,but mild disease condition,large family size were protective factors of the discrimination.ConclusionTuberculosis patients face serious social discrimination and gender,age,illness status,and family size are main influencing factors of social discrimination to tuberculosis patients.