Factors influencing increase in tuberculosis patients in Mpumalanga Province

Abstract

The study aimed at describing factors that contribute to the increase in the number of tuberculosis patients in Mpumalanga Province and suggested recommendations to address the challenges. The design of the study was qualitative. The population consisted of all TB patients who were receiving treatment either at the intensive or the continuation phase. The sampling method was purposive and the sample size comprised 20 participants, of whom 10 were drawn from Shatale clinic at Bushbuckridge, and 10 from Mashishing clinic at Thabachweu municipality in the Ehlanzeni district of Mpumalanga Province. Data was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was done using open coding method, from which themes and sub-themes were derived. This study revealed several factors that contributed to the increase in the number of TB patients at the study sites. The factors considered most important in this study were lack of knowledge of TB among participants despite their various levels of education, poverty, overcrowding, poor ventilation in the shacks and Reconstruction and Development Programme houses, unemployment, lack of support while taking treatment, religious and ritual beliefs, and the influence of traditional healers’ herbal medicines with the dictum that participants have been possessed by evil spirits. It is recommended that nursing education should include strategies to educate the patients, train health workers and communities through workshops and seminars on better infection control strategies to control Tuberculosis. More research is needed to inform implementation and evaluation of infection control practices in health care settings.

Keywords: Tuberculosis, multidrug-resistant, extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis.