Demographic and clinical factors affecting health-related quality of life in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Jazan, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction Despite the abundant literature about health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and the scarcity of published literature in KSA, this is the first study to assess the 6-min walk test, sputum examination, and tuberculin test for patients with PTB in correlation with HRQOL domains. Patients and methods The study aimed to measure HRQOL among patients with PTB and to identify the demographic and the clinical factors that may affect HRQOL. A cross-sectional study using the WHO-BREF 26-item questionnaire was carried out on 114 patients with PTB at a secondary hospital in Jazan from September 2018 to September 2019. Results There was a significant association between the overall perception of health and health status of patients. The social domain had the lowest scores, followed by the environmental, psychological, and lastly, the physical domains. The influence of comorbidities has a significant correlation with the environmental and social domains for HRQOL in patients with PTB. A significant correlation was found between the 6-min walk test and physical and psychological domains. However, sputum smear examination and tuberculin test did not significantly relate to HRQOL domains. Conclusion A decrease of the four domains in the assessment of the HRQOL in PTB has been noted in relation to some demographic and clinical factors.