Quality of life and associated factors among patients with tuberculosis at the University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital, Ethiopia.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Clinical outcomes have failed to capture the impact of tuberculosis (TB) on patients; consequently, a comprehensive measure is required. This study's objective was to determine the level of quality of life (QOL) and associated factors among patients with TB at the University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital, TB clinic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June 2019. A total of 400 patients were selected. The world health organization quality-of-life (WHOQOL-Bref) questionnaire was used to measure QOL. Linear regression analysis was done to investigate potential predictors, and variables with a P value of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The participants had a mean age of 38.04 ± 13.53 years; the percentage of patients with pulmonary TB (PTB) was 52.71% and 57.36% were male. The QOL scores for physical, psychological, social and environmental domains were 43.54 ± 10.18, 46.67 ± 7.93, 39.79 ± 15.30 and 41.22 ± 12.90, respectively. PTB was associated with physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains (B = -3.99, P value <0.001), (B = -2.03, P value = 0.027), (B = -4.44, P value = 0.008), and (B = -2.83, P value = 0.029), individually; likewise, drug adherence was associated with physical (B = -10.36), psychological (B = -4.48), social (B = -14.46), and environmental (B = -8.44) domains at a P value <0.001. Education (B = 2.39, P value = 0.018), and co-morbidity (B = -4.28, P value = 0.023) were associated with the psychological domain. Finally, occupation was significantly associated with the environmental domain (B = -4.53, P value = 0.008). CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the QOL of patients was relatively low compared to that of other studies. Notably, social domains were affected more than other domains. Non-adherence and PTB were negatively associated with all domains. Therefore, health professionals should emphasize patients' drug adherence.