Doctoral Dissertation: Tuberculosis and Gender in the Philippines

菲律宾是世界上结核病死亡率和发病率最高的国家之一。 最近的研究表明，菲律宾妇女感染的频率较低，但死亡率高于男子。 本论文的研究项目，在南方卫理公会大学文化人类学的研究生进行，将解决两个主要问题：病人和他们的家人如何看待和理解结核病？性别如何影响治疗决策和结果？ 该项目分为三个阶段：描述，仪器开发和解释。 第一阶段涉及采访80人，了解他们对疾病，包括结核病的看法、知识和态度。方法将包括半结构化面试，真/假问题，和桩排序练习。 在第二阶段，将编制一份问卷，供项目最后阶段使用。 第三阶段的样本量为280名男性和女性结核病患者。 这一阶段将确定性别和卫生保健提供地点的类型（公共或私人）与治疗相关的一些因素之间的关系。 这些因素包括初始治疗的时间，第一种类型的医疗保健提供网站接近，治疗的次数被停止，存在的另一个家庭成员与肺结核等，除了提供一个有前途的女科学家的博士培训，这项研究将有助于我们了解东南亚的性别互补性和平等，因为它涉及到健康和医疗保健决策。 它还将协助保健政策制定者制定专门解决妇女和男子需要的方案。

The Philippines has one of the highest tuberculosis mortality and morbidity rates in the world. Recent research suggests that Filipino women are infected less often but experience more mortality than do men. This dissertation research project, conducted by a graduate student in cultural anthropology at Southern Methodist University, will address two main issues: How do patients and their families perceive and understand tuberculosis? and How does gender influence treatment decision making and outcome? The project is divided into three phases: descriptive, instrument development, and explanatory. Phase I involves interviews 80 individuals regarding their perceptions, knowledge and attitudes about illnesses, including tuberculosis. Methods will include semi-structured interviews, true/false questions, and pile sorting exercises. In Phase II, a questionnaire will be developed for use in the final phase of the project. The sample size for Phase III is 280 male and female TB patients. This phase will determine how gender and the type of health care delivery site (public or private) are correlated with a number of factors associated with treatment. These factors include time of initial treatment, first type of health care delivery site approached, number of times treatment was stopped, presence of another family member with tuberculosis, etc. In addition to providing doctoral training for a promising woman scientist, this study will contribute to our understanding of gender complementarity and equality in Southeast Asia as it relates to health and health care decision making. It will also assist health care policy makers in developing programs that would specifically address the needs of women and men.