Abstract
Stigma is, one of the social diseases, more apparent in developing society which is driven by the various social affairs influencing adhere to treatment. The aim of the present study was to examine the level of social stigma related to Tuberculosis (TB) among the patients from socio-demographic context as well as to identify the corresponding effects on stigma. The study sample consists of 372 TB patients. Data were collected using stratified sampling with simple random sampling techniques. T-test, Chi-square and binary logistic regression analysis were performed to find out the correlation between stigma and socio-demographic variables. Around 85.9% patients were found stigmatized. The most frequent stigma indicator that experienced by the patients was: face problem to take part in social programs (79.5%). The mean level of stigma was significantly higher among females (55.5%), illiterate (60.8%) and villagers (60.8%). Chi-square revealed that education, monthly family income and type of patients were significantly associated with stigma. Binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that stigma was influenced by sex, education and type of patients. Stigma is one of the most important barriers to adhere to treatment process. Thereby, in interventions aimed at reducing stigma, strong collaboration is essential among various institutions.
