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Delayed Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region: A Health Narratives Approach

Issues in Health and Health Care Related to Race/Ethnicity, Immigration, SES and Gender

ISBN: 978-1-78190-124-3, eISBN: 978-1-78190-125-0

Publication date: 9 August 2012

Abstract

Purpose – One-third of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis (TB) and there are two million TB-related deaths worldwide every year. Along the U.S.-Mexico border, migration patterns, and reduced access to health care contribute to high rates of TB. Delayed diagnosis of TB, the focus of this chapter, increases the likelihood that a patient will progress to more advanced stages of the disease and heightens the risk of TB transmission to others as patients are contagious for longer periods of time.

Approach – Despite the seriousness of these consequences, few sociological studies have examined delayed diagnosis of TB and why people affected by TB symptoms delay care. Because of this, we take a health narratives approach to understanding the experiences of 15 TB patients of Mexican descent in a high-risk border community (e.g., El Paso, Texas) in order to discover why delayed diagnoses happen and how they impact patients.

Findings – Fourteen of the fifteen patients experienced delayed diagnosis. Analysis of these fourteen narratives revealed two broad themes: (1) provider lack of awareness, including repeated misdiagnosis and TB test errors, and (2) patient disadvantage, including fear of U.S. immigration authorities and few economic resources for care.

Implications – Findings from this study suggest that prompt diagnosis of TB could be achieved if providers were more cognizant of TB and its symptoms and public health policies increased access to health care regardless of immigration status or socioeconomic status.

Keywords

Citation

Forero-Quintana, A. and Grineski, S.E. (2012), "Delayed Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region: A Health Narratives Approach", Jacobs Kronenfeld, J. (Ed.) Issues in Health and Health Care Related to Race/Ethnicity, Immigration, SES and Gender (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 30), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 45-65. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0275-4959(2012)0000030005

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited