Factors affecting psychosocial adjustments to illness of active tuberculosis patients

Tuberculosis is still a major public health problem all over the world. Psychosocial adjustment to illness of tuberculosis patients is important for successful treatment. This study was conducted to determine factors affecting psychosocial adjustment to illness of active tuberculosis patients. This cross-sectional and descriptive study was performed on 48 active tuberculosis cases in Kayseri Province. A sociodemographic questionnaire and Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale–Self-Report (PAIS–SR) were used for data collection. Pearson’s chi square test, Fisher’s exact test, Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis H test were used for statistical analyses. It was determined that, 56.5% of the patients were female, 69.6% married, 41.3% primary school graduates, and 21.7% current smokers. Mean age was 46.0±16.2 years, and mean duration of disease was 3.6±2.2 months. Mean of total PAIS-SR scores was 62.5±23.6 and psychosocial adjustment for 73.9% of the patients was evaluated as poor. The most negatively affected domains were domestic environment and social environment. Psychosocial adjustment to illness of tuberculosis patients is poor in general and the patients who are female, low educated, housewife and unemployed have higher risk for poor adjustment to illness. Tuberculosis patients should be supported psychosocially to improve their psychosocial adjustments to illness.