ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate patients’negative emotional reactions and its influencing factors when pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB ) was diagnosed, and to provide evidence for health education and intervention. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among 440 PTB patients who were treated at the designated clinics of two counties in Zhejiang Province.Twenty patients at one clinic were randomly selected for a semi-structured interview.Results A total of 437 qualified questionnaires were collected and 19 patients were successfully interviewed.When they were told the result of diagnosis,58.58% patients felt worried,29.75% were shocked,20.37% tended to blame themselves,10.98% felt helpless and 35.70%had a sense of shame.In the semi-structured interview,the main reasons for negative emotions told by the patients were disbelieving the fact of getting the disease and misunderstanding TB was incurable.Old people felt more shocked (40.26%),worried (58.44%)and self-blaming (38.96%)about the diagnosis of TB.The divorced and widowed expressed more reactions of worry (95.24%), shock (6 1.09%), self -blame (6 1.09%), helpless (42.86%).Farmers had higher rate of shock (48.89%),worry (70.37%),and self-blame (43.70%).Conclusion Negative emotions or feelings were popular among TB patients when the disease was diagnosed.The elders,divorced or widowed people and farmers need to be attached more importance during the process of health education or intervention.