Medial Factors
Caregiver Characteristics
Overall, 233 (23%) caregivers reported smoking while 166 (22%)
consumed alcohol; 308 (45%) of caregivers were classified as
experiencing high stress [Table II]. Of all caregivers, 61%
perceived that they had high social support, 32% moderate social
support and 8% low social support [Table II]. Active smoking
(p=0.019) was a caregiver characteristic associated with treated
childhood TB in univariate analyses. Previous TB treatment of the
caregiver was protective (p = 0.050) [Table III]. A similar
association was found when analyzed by microbiologically-confirmed PTB
[Table V].
Psychological Distress
Of all caregivers, 863 (72%) completed all questions on the K-10
questionnaire. The median score (IQR) was 23 (15 – 30); 40% were
classified as being well, 15% as having mild distress, 14% as having
moderate distress and 31% as having severe distress (K-10 score ≥30).
There was no difference in the proportion of caregivers with severe
psychological distress across the three categories of children with PTB
(p = 0.249) [Table II]. For the outcome of malnutrition, severe
psychological distress was associated with malnutrition among children
in both the univariate and multivariate analyses (p=0.028) and
(p=0.015), respectively [Table IV].