SOCIAL VARIABLES AND THE PERCEPTION OF STIGMATIZATION AS HINDRANCE TO THE USE OF TUBERCULOSIS SERVICES IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated social variables and perception of stigmatization as hindrance to the use of tuberculosis services in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Three research questions turned into hypotheses guided the study. Ex-post facto research design was used. From a population of 3846 registered TB patients, in the nine government owned general hospitals, 500 subjects were selected through stratified random sampling technique at equal gender basis for the study. A researcher-developed instrument, social variables and perception of tuberculosis stigmatization questionnaire (SUPTSQ) validated by three experts with reliability index of 0.87 was used to gather data for the study. Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to analyze data obtained at .05 level of significance. Results showed significant relationship between educational level, gender, economic status and perception of stigmatization in the use of TB services. It was concluded that low level of knowledge about route cause and curability of TB, stigmatization, powerful male-privileging ideologies and wide spread abject poverty are major social variables hampering the use of TB services. It is recommended that awareness campaign be mounted by government and non-governmental agencies concerning specific aspects of TB disease, curability, drug regimen and the need to seek health services early by TB patients.