Lived Experiences of Medically Admitted Tuberculosis Patients in a Public Hospital and Its Implications for TB Treatment Management and Care: A Narrative Analysis Around the First-Hand Experience in a Tuberculosis Ward

Introduction Along with bodily suffering, tuberculosis causes various socio-economic problems, including major crises on the personal end. For medically admitted chronic TB patients, a hospital is a place of more than only treatment that over time becomes a living place. The present study explored the individual patients' perspectives on TB treatment. Methods The present ethnographic study was undertaken among the admitted tuberculosis patients of both sexes in the 18-70 age group in a referral government TB hospital in Odisha. Thirty selected in-depth interviews and case studies were taken to collect the data. Results TB challenges and in several contexts shatters the socio-economic conditions of such patients bringing several crises at the individual and interpersonal levels. The findings of the study suggest that social marginalization, poor socio-economic conditions, loss of livelihood, desertion, and abandonment of women and elderly, gender disparity while seeking health and treatment, gender-based family negligence, stigma, superstitious beliefs, and traditional medicinal practices had heavy bearings in tuberculosis patients' lives. Conclusion The present hospital ethnography on TB patients indicates that emphasizing patients' perspectives, provision of socio-psychological support at community and institutional levels in the hospital ward, and addressing tuberculosis-associated concerns have important positive outcomes in patients' lives; it will also have major support in treatment adherence and early recovery by ensuring successful TB management and elimination.