Family factors associated with quality of life in pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Surabaya, Indonesia

Pulmonary TB is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. The physical and pschological changes in patients with pulmonary TB can affect the patients's quality of life. The family is a key factor in relation to supporting successful treatment and recovery. This study aims to analyse the factors related to pulmonary TB patients quality of life.

This research used an analytic observational design with a cross-sectional approach. A total of 73 respondents were recruited via the family members of patients with pulmonary TB using a simple random sampling technique. The data was collected using several questionaires on the sociodemographic characteristics, family development stage, family stress & coping, environmental data and WHOQOL-BREF. The data analysis was performed using a Chi Square test.

The results of this study showed that family factors significantly influence the quality of life of patients with Pulmonary TB, including the type of family (p= 0.000), their level of education (p=0.000), employment (p=0.001) and monthly income (p=0.002). Other factors including the level of stress and coping and environmental health (healthy housing) were also significantly associated with quality of life (ρ <0.01). Only the family development stage had no significant relationship with quality of life.

The significant family factors influence the quality of life among pulmonary TB patients, which reflects the need to strengthen the role of the family in promoting successful treatment. A family with social support from the community would help to improve the quality of life of pulmonary TB patients.