Demographic Factors Associated with Health-Related Quality of Life Among Urban and Rural Tuberculosis Patients in Kenya

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.