Quality of life of a migrant population with tuberculosis in West China

OBJECTIVE: To describe the quality of life (QOL) of the migrant population with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in West China, and identify factors associated with QOL. METHODS: A pilot investigation was conducted among 103 migrant individuals with PTB in Nanchong Region, Sichuan Province, China. The QOL and social support of the patients were investigated using a short version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire and the Social Support Rating Scale, respectively. RESULTS: The mean scores of the QOL of the migrant population were respectively 12.1, 12.9 and 11.7 for the physical, psychological and environmental domains; these were significantly lower than those of the general Chinese population. Non-parametric tests detected the significant effects of the following: 1) educational levels on all domains, including social relationship; 2) age on all domains, except psychological; 3) personal income on the physical and environmental domains; and 4) subjective support on all domains, except psychological. Multivariate logistic regression analyses confirmed that educational levels and subjective support were significantly associated with the global health status of the migrant population. CONCLUSIONS: The QOL of patients with TB among the migrant population in West China was poor; education and subjective support were important influential factors.