The Psychosocial Impact of Hearing Loss on the Quality of life in Adults with Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (Preprint)
BACKGROUND Aminoglycoside treatment used for MDR-TB is likely to result in ototoxicity. The effects of a hearing loss with a MDR-TB diagnosis are likely to have an increased impact on the overall quality of life of an individual. However, there is minimal research in the area, which would therefore indicate a possible lack of awareness to the effect of aminoglycoside treatment on the quality of life of patients. While most studies on drug resistant TB are focused on the public health concerns of the disease, the human costs of MDR-TB are sometimes overlooked. OBJECTIVE This study aims to describe the psychological, social, economic and vocational impact of hearing loss on the quality of life of adults with Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. METHODS A Qualitative Phenomenological research study will be conducted on 10 participants. All participants will have a laboratory confirmed diagnosis of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. A semi-structured interview questionnaire will be used to collect data. Face-to-face interviews will be conducted and the participants will be audio recorded. All interviews will be conducted by the researcher. RESULTS The study has not concluded. CONCLUSIONS The quality of life of a patient needs to be considered in the health care system during treatment, as this data may drive improved national health care planning with regards to treatment of patients diagnosed with MDR-TB. Therefore, for a comprehensive assessment of patient’s health status, it is very much essential to assess the overall impact of MDR-TB on health and patient’s perception of well-being. Besides routine clinical and bacteriological assessments, this assessment can be done by assessing quality of life which has several domains. Patients diagnosed with MDR-TB who further acquire an aminoglycoside induced hearing loss may have life-long effects on their quality of life even after completion of treatment.