Biography
Biography: Hatice Simsek
Abstract
Tuberculosis affects not only the physical aspect but also the social and psychological on patients. This social dimension of tuberculosis and tuberculosis pose a significant problem for patients. This study aimed to determine internalized stigma of tuberculosis patients. The universe of the descriptive research has established a definite diagnosis of tuberculosis patients (n=202) is registered in the Manisa Central Tuberculosis Dispensary, 2007-2012 in treated/undergoing treatment in which the residents of Manisa central. The sample of the study consisted of 83 patients that meet the criteria for participating (n=83). Survey participation rate was 84.3%. Permission institutions and ethics committee approval received for research, data were collected using Tuberculosis Patients Stigma Scale (Cronbach's alpha=0.79) with a face to face interview technique from March to August 2012. Data was assessed using frequency, percentage, mean, t-test, Pearson's correlation and Man Whitney U test in SPSS 15.00 for Windows program. The average age of the participants 47.11±14.43; 65.7% were male; 51.4% of primary school graduates; the 72.9% were married and 85.7% social security. 82.9% of patients completed their treatment; 94.3% of tuberculosis patients had no other family. 37.1% of TB patients are not told anyone that. The results shows that faced with the stigma of tuberculosis, the intermediate scores obtained from the scale (mean score 70.01). In this study that conducted to evaluate the stigma of TB patients, which detected no significant relationship between stigma and age, marital status, employment status, the longest living place, education, social security, treatment continuation condition, no other disease except TB and regular examination status; just to mention a significant relationship between stigma and tell the disease status and sex.