Abstract:

Objective To analyze the influence of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) on the mental health status of student patients themselves and their classmates so as to provide theoretical basis for health promotion policy and intervention strategies implementing.Methods Newly diagnosed student patients in colleges and middle schools registered by tuberculosis management information system (TBMIS) in Zhuhai from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017 were selected as survey objects, as well as their classmates. A questionnaire survey was conducted using Mental Health Diagnostic Test (MHT) Handbook. A total of 4800 questionnaires were issued, and 4351 qualified ones were recovered with effective recovery rate of 90.65%. The qualified questionnaires were filled by 128 students with PTB and 4223 classmates.Results The mental health status of the students with PTB was significantly lower than those without PTB, which was mainly reflected in the sores of following scales: learning anxiety (6.69±2.13 versus 5.77±2.23; t=4.60, P<0.01), interpersonal anxiety (5.74±2.34 versus 5.17±2.71; t=2.35, P=0.018), lonely tendency (4.68±2.84 versus 3.94±1.94; t=4.15, P<0.01), allergy tendency (3.71±2.53 versus 3.15±2.04; t=3.04, P=0.002), physical symptoms (2.88±2.91 versus 2.36±1.68; t=3.34, P<0.01), phobia tendency (3.95±1.93 versus 3.40±1.65; t=3.66, P<0.01) and total score of MHT (34.97±13.97 versus 30.66±11.33; t=4.22, P<0.01). Among students with PTB, we found that: (1) Difference between different gender was significant in mental health status. The male students had better mental health status (the total score of MHT of male students was 32.69±14.83, and the total score of MHT of female students was 37.56±11.03 (t=-2.09, P=0.030); (2) Comparing with college school students, middle school students got higher scores in learning anxiety (7.55±3.12 versus 6.13±2.11; t=-2.92, P<0.05) and impulsion tendency (4.67±2.99 versus 3.41±2.55; t=2.51, P<0.05), but significantly lower scores in interpersonal anxiety (5.19±2.25 versus 6.58±2.80; t=-3.11, P<0.01); (3) Non-remission group students had higher scores of interpersonal anxiety (6.34±2.19 versus 4.81±3.13; t=-3.25, P<0.05), lonely tendency (5.16±2.41 versus 4.08±2.00; t=-2.53, P<0.05), and allergy tendency (4.33±1.98 versus 3.57±2.10; t=-2.07, P<0.05) than remission group students.Conclusion Suffered from PTB has an impact on the mental health status of students in Zhuhai. We must give full attention to the students with PTB, and intervention should be conducted accurately and timely. Furthermore, psychological support and care should be provided.

Key words: Pulmonary tuberculosis, Students, Health knowledge, Sickness impact profile, Data interpretation