Objective  To investigate the status and influencing factors of social support among tuberculosis patients in rural regions of Guizhou province.

  Methods  We selected 2 500 tuberculosis patients at 25 rural towns in 5 counties across Guizhou province using random sampling and conducted a self-administered anonymous questionnaire survey with the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) from September 2016 to April 2017.

  Results  For the 2 418 patients completing the survey, the mean overall SSRS score was 34.74 ± 4.69 and the mean scores for subjective social support, objective social support, and social support utilization were 17.64 ± 3.17, 10.04 ± 1.52, and 7.06 ± 1.57, respectively. The SSRS scores were not significantly different by age, annual income, medical reimbursement ratio, and drug resistance (P > 0.05 for all) but the scores differed significantly by gender, education, marital status, occupation, and whether being sputum smear positive (P < 0.05 for all) among the patients. Major influencing factors for social support for the patients were gender, education, marital status, occupation, and the result of sputum smear (P < 0.05 for all).

  Conclusion  The social support is at a reasonable level among tuberculosis patients in rural areas of Guizhou province but strong social support still needs to be rovide to some patient groups.