Illness Perception & Utilization of Health Facilities

177 AU: Banerji D & Andersen S TI : A sociological study of the awareness of symptoms among persons with pulmonary tuberculosis. SO: BULL WHO 1963, 29, 665-683. DT: Per AB: This study was undertaken in 34 villages and 4 town blocks where a few weeks earlier an epidemiological survey was carried out. All persons above 20 years whose photofluorograms were read as inactive, probably active, or active by at least one reader, were age-sex matched with an equal number of X-ray normals, to form the experimental and control groups respectively. Thus, a total of 2,106 were eligible for social investigation. Interview sheets, with particulars of the name and location of village, household number and individual number and the identifiable data of the interviewees were made available to the Social Investigators at random for contacting and interviewing them at their homes. The interviews were non-suggestive in nature and deep-probing on the details of symptoms experienced by the respondent, which were fully recorded. About 79% of the experimental group and 83% of the control group were satisfactorily interviewed, which constituted the data further analysed. Of the numerous symptoms recorded, only that were associated with pulmonary TB were considered, of which cough occurring for one month or more, fever for a month or more, pain in the chest, haemoptysis and all combination of these four symptoms were analysed statistically.