Perceptions of stigma among pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Thailand, and the links to delays in accessing healthcare.

Background: Delay in seeking care increases the morbidity and mortality in tuberculosis (TB) patients and leads to increased likelihood of transmission within the community. Stigmatisation is one of the influencing factors causing delay in accessing healthcare when experiencing symptoms of TB.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the relationship between TB stigmatisation and patient delay among pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients.

Methods: A mixed methods study was undertaken among 300 randomly sampled participants who completed questionnaire surveys, supplemented by 25 in-depth interviews with purposively-sampled participants identified as delaying access to healthcare.

Results: Participants reporting higher perceived levels of TB stigmatisation demonstrated a longer duration of patient delay (p < 0.001). Qualitative data reinforced the view that perceptions of TB as being a disease carrying with it a stigma contributed to a delay in seeking healthcare. This was also exacerbated in patients with HIV-positive. Given that HIV-positive status is still subject to stigma in some parts of society, patients demonstrated additional reluctance to seek out healthcare if they were known to be HIV-positive whilst also experiencing symptoms of TB.

Discussion: The study highlights that accurate and objective information about TB is required to reduce societal stigmatisation related to the disease, thereby reducing the reluctance of patients to access healthcare.