Yamada S, Caballero J, Matsunaga D S, Agustin G, Magana M
Department of Family Practice and Community Health, University of Hawaii, Mililani, USA.
Fam Med. 1999 Jul-Aug;31(7):477-82.
More than two thirds of the cases of tuberculosis (TB) in the United States occur in non-white minorities and immigrants. The Philippines is the Asian country of origin with the greatest numbers of TB cases among the foreign-born. This paper explores Filipino knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning TB.
Four focus groups of Filipino immigrants were convened to discuss the participants' explanatory models regarding TB. The results of these groups were reviewed by a panel of Filipino health workers.
The focus group participants expressed a belief in the extreme contagiousness of TB. This leads to social stigma and isolation. The desire to avoid such consequences lead some to deny their illness, not seek attention, or attempt to hide their illness. While all agree that biomedical treatment is necessary, many believe in the effectiveness of traditional and popular treatments.
If explanatory models of illness are elicited from individual patients, an understanding of the shared beliefs regarding tuberculosis in Filipinos may contribute to treatment of these patients.
在美国，超过三分之二的结核病（TB）病例发生在非白人少数族裔和移民中。菲律宾是外国出生的结核病病例数最多的亚洲原籍国。本文探讨菲律宾人对结核病的知识、态度和行为。
召集了四个菲律宾移民焦点小组，讨论参与者关于结核病的解释模型。这些小组的结果由一组菲律宾卫生工作者进行审查。
焦点小组参与者表达了对结核病极强传染性的信念。这导致了社会耻辱感和隔离。避免此类后果的愿望导致一些人否认自己的病情，不寻求关注或试图隐瞒病情。虽然所有人都同意生物医学治疗是必要的，但许多人相信传统和流行治疗方法的有效性。
如果从个体患者中引出疾病的解释模型，了解菲律宾人对结核病的共同信念可能有助于对这些患者的治疗。
