Abstract:

Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease that seriously endangers human health. Stigma, a perceived negative attitude of stigmatized groups, is widespread in TB patients, which may lead to the delays in effective treatment and serious consequences for both the individual and the society. The stigma suffered by TB patients mainly includes family discrimination, social discrimination and discrimination in medical institutions, and results in further aggravated psychological pain in the TB patients. Then they would adopt a negative attitude to cope with treatment and life, which might result in a poor prognosis. The degree of stigma varied among patients with different demographic characteristics. Currently, there is a lack of representative investigation reports related to the stigma of TB patients in China and around the world. From the aspects of status quo, influencing factors, causes and elimination methods of TB patients’ discrimination, we have systematically reviewed related research work at home and abroad, and hope to provide more evidence for the improving the treatment and management stra-tegies for TB patients.

Key words: Tuberculosis, Patients, Prejudice, Review