Socio economic factors affecting TB patients

Socio-economic factors affecting TB patients are: 

1. General socioeconomic conditions of the society, culture and environment. This includes:

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)  

• Immigration  

• Urbanisation 

• Incidence of TB in the country   

• Labour policy 

• Access to healthcare 

2. Socioeconomic position of the individual. This includes:

• Income 

• Education 

• Occupation  

• Social class/ caste 

• Indigenous/ tribal population 

• Gender 

3. Living and working conditions. This includes: 

• Housing conditions (overcrowding and poor ventilation especially in night shelters, de-addiction centres, old age homes, prisons) 

• Employment conditions - Occupation with risk of developing TB (mines, coal industry, sand blasting industries, weaving & glass industries, stone-crushers, cotton mill workers, tea garden workers, rice mill workers, etc.,) 

• Homelessness  

• Hard to reach areas 

• Urban slums 

3. Psychosocial risk factors, such as:  

• Social exclusion 

• Depression  

4. Individual lifestyle risk factors, such as:  

• Smoking  

• Alcohol abuse  

• Tobbaco use 

• Drug abuse  

• Nutrition (malnutrition) 

• Co-morbidities like diabetes mellitus, malignancies, patients on dialysis and on long term immunosuppressant therapy HIV, past history of TB 

Resources

• NTEP Training Modules (1 to 4) for Programme Managers & Medical Officers, CTD, 2020. 
• Social Determinants of Tuberculosis Context Framework and the Way Forward to Ending TB in India, IPH, India, 2020. 

Assessment