DEPRESSION IN PATIENTS WITH PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS: A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY

Background Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.Depression has been known to be widely associated with chronic systemic conditions. This common psychiatric co- morbidity is often neglected in medical set up which increases the healthcare burden and adversely affects the treatment outcome of patients suffering from tuberculosis. Material and methods 100 consecutive patients suffering from pulmonary TB admitted in Chest and Tuberculosis Department,ANMCH,Gaya giving written informed consent were assessed using a form for sociodemographic details and for depression using Beck's Depression Inventory(BDI). Statistical evaluation was done using Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and results analyzed and tabulated. Results Depression was found in 41% of the patients suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.In terms of severity,moderate level of depression was reported among the patients in highest fraction i.e 57%. Conclusion The relation between tuberculosis and Depression is bidirectional .The chronicity of TB is likely to be associated with psychological problems like depression which adversely affect the prognosis of TB in the affected patients.