Health-seeking Behaviour among Tuberculosis Patients in a Bhavnagar District, Western India
Bansi Trivedi, Dev ChoksiAbstract
Background:
Globally, tuberculosis (TB) is the second most common cause of death from infectious diseases, and one of the main obstacles to meeting the objectives of TB control programmes is believed to be the delay in the TB care cascade.
Methodology:
We have conducted a cross-sectional study among 200 TB patients residing in the Bhvanagar district during October–December 2022 to determine the health-seeking behaviour by TB patients and the delay in health-seeking.
Results:
Data analysis revealed the majority of patients were Hindu and were housewives. The majority of TB patients have cough with sputum. The majority of study subjects visited private health facilities after the appearance of symptoms. Patient compliance and costs in private facilities were the reasons for the delay.
Conclusion:
Fourteen per cent of study subjects visited the district TB centre after the appearance of symptoms, and then, they went to the primary health centre. Mean time of delay from the appearance of symptoms to the 1 st facility was 15 days, mean time of delay from 1 st facility to 2 nd facility was 22 days, mean time of delay from 2 nd facility to 3 rd facility was 26 days and the mean time of delay from 3 rd facility to 4 th facility was 3 days. Health-seeking behaviour and related delays are of utmost importance in TB care from two important perspectives: first, TB requires timely treatment, and second, it requires longer treatment.