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Table 2 Selected Illustrative Quotes for Theme 1: Diagnosis Issues for TB

From: Factors influencing quality of life in patients with active tuberculosis

Theme 1: Diagnosis Issues

Sub-Theme: Symptoms

Coughing

   "I felt tired all the time and had a cough that just wouldn't go away". (Female)

   "I had a really bad cough for 3 months and then I started coughing up blood. This made me scared so I went to the doctor". (Male)

Fatigue/weakness

   "I just felt tired all the time. I did not have the energy to do anything". (Male)

   "I had fatigue and a continuous cough for 6 months. I thought I had persistent flu but then after a while the symptoms got so bad that I went to see a doctor". (Male)

Fever/nightsweats

   "I had a fever and chest pain for 1 month; I thought this was pneumonia so I went to see my family doctor". (Male)

   "I had night sweats for several months and a fever so after a while I went to see my doctor". (Male)

Asymptomatic

   "I did not know I had TB, I was really surprised because I felt really good". (Male)

   "I had a general examination and that's when I found out I had TB, otherwise I had no symptoms" (Female)

Sub-Theme: Health Care Provision

Delayed Diagnosis

   "I had a friend who was sick with TB in the hospital. I asked my GP to get tested but he did not feel I needed to. Anyway, I was negative but I knew something was wrong so I asked for a chest X-ray. He did not agree at the beginning but finally he did and that's when I found that I had TB". (Female)

Hospitalization

   "I came out of a coma from meningitis and that's when they told me I had TB. They threw me in a TB ward at VGH which was worse then a prison. I didn't like the restrictiveness so I took off...the isolation was too much". (Male)

   "The only thing to do at the hospital was to eat and sleep. There are no programs there and you are confined in one area". (Male)

   "Everyone wears gloves and masks to come and see you, you feel like a leper". (Male)

Sub-Theme: Emotional Impact

Calm, Accepting, or Apathetic

   "I was okay about it. I knew people who had this before and so I knew I would be in the hospital for a while but then after taking medicines I would be fine". (Male)

   "I felt calm and confident in the medical profession". (Male)

Scared, or Afraid

   "I was scared of dying. My Grandma had it and she was in the sanitorium before she died of it". (Female)

Shocked/Surprised, or Devastated

   "I was shocked. It was such a surprise because I was working full-time as a nurse in India before immigrating here and I was healthy". (Female)

   "I was devastated because I had another illness. I didn't feel that I deserved it". (Female)

Worried/Concerned or Depressed

   "I was worried about passing it on to other people". (Male)

   "I was depressed because I had a daughter whom I could not see while in hospital". (Female)