Abstract:
Background: Tuberculosis is one of the deadliest and disabling diseases in
the world today. The infection exacts its greatest toll on individuals during
their most productive years. TB patients record different perceived health
related qualities of life(PHRQoL) which could be attributed to certain environmental,social and physical factors. The objective of the study was to
determine the demographic factors associated with the PHRQoL among
urban and rural Tuberculosis patients in Kenya. Cross sectional design was
adopted. The study applied the multi-stage sampling technique. Random
sampling method was used to select the TB clinics that participated in the
study. Simple random sampling according to probability proportionate to
TB patient’s population was preferred to select the study participants. Chisquare
test determined association between the various demographic factors and the PHRQoL while ANOVA tests demonstrated the overall association of demographic factors and PHRQoL. Statistical Significance was evaluated
at p<0.05. Descriptive statistics summarized and described the data. The
study established that demographic factors are associated with PHRQoL
(p=0.008). Specifically, age, levels of education, marital status and house
hold size (P<0.05). Gender and Household head were not significantly associated with the PHRQoL (p>0.05). These findings will persuade the TB
management policy towards developing an intervention programs directed
at the social-demographic characteristics of the TB patients for improved
treatment outcomes.
