Health-Related Quality of Life of Tuberculosis Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Conakry, Guinea: A Mixed Methods Study

Touré, Almamy Amara; Magassouba, Aboubacar Sidiki; Camara, G.N.N.L.; Doumbouya, Abdoulaye; Cissé, Demba; Barry, Ibrahima; Camara, Lansana Mady; Béavogui, Abdoul Habib; Délamou, Alexandre; Veronese, Vanessa; Merle, Corinne; Traoré, Hugues Asken; Bangoura, Adama Marie

doi:10.20944/preprints202207.0351.v1

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Despite the abundance of quantitative evidence of the pandemic's impact on TB diagnoses, there have been few published reports describing the ways in which the pandemic affected people's pathway to diagnosis from their own perspectives. Qualitative studies exploring patients' experience with TB during the pandemic have reported patients' concerns around the financial and social costs of lockdowns, their ability to continue accessing TB medications, and their fear of infection [8][9][10][11]. However, these studies have not identified ways in which the pandemic had impacted patients' experience obtaining a TB diagnosis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients’ experiences obtaining a tuberculosis diagnosis in Peru: a mixed-methods study

et al. 2022

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted TB services worldwide, leading to diagnostic delays. There have been few published reports describing how the pandemic affected people’s pathway to diagnosis from their own perspectives. We sought to evaluate the impact on the pandemic on people’s experiences obtaining a TB diagnosis. Methods We performed a mixed-methods study, enrolling newly diagnosed TB patients from 12 health centers in Lima, Peru. We used structured surveys to quantify diagnostic delay, defined as the time between symptom onset and diagnosis, and in-depth interviews to understand the ways in which the pandemic affected the pathway to care. We compared diagnostic delay between patients enrolled during the first year of the pandemic to those diagnosed after using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test. We used an inductive content analysis approach to analyze interview content related to the pandemic. Results We enrolled 51 patients during November 2020–April 2021 (during the first year of the pandemic) and 49 patients during October 2021–February 2022. Median diagnostic delay was longer for patients diagnosed during the first year of the pandemic (median 15 [IQR 5–26] weeks compared to 6 [IQR 3–18] weeks, p = 0.027). Qualitative analysis of 26 interviews revealed that the pandemic affected participants’ care-seeking behavior and their ability to access to TB diagnostic services, particularly for those diagnosed in the first year of the pandemic. Many participants initially had their symptoms attributed to COVID-19, resulting in delayed TB evaluation and additional costs for COVID-19 treatment. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic impacted multiple steps in the pathway to care for TB patients in Lima, causing delays in TB diagnosis. These findings demonstrate how the shifting of health care resources to prioritize COVID-19 can lead to collateral damage for people with TB and other conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%