Pac Health Dialog. 2001 Mar; 8(1): 15-9.

Attitudes regarding tuberculosis among Samoans.

AhChing LP, Sapolu M, Samifua M, Yamada S.

University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, 1960 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822

The research reported here examines knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to tuberculosis (TB) among Samoan immigrants through the use of a focus group. Samoan health workers to discuss participants' explanatory models regarding TB convened a focus group of eight Samoan living in Hawaii. The participants expressed a belief in the extreme contagiousness of TB. This leads to social stigma and isolation. Most agreed that biomedical treatment is necessary. Traditional herbal medicine was seen as adjunct to biomedical treatment. Focus group participants were found to subscribe to largely biomedical explanatory models regarding TB, but belief in traditional medicine also persists. TB was believed to be more transmissible than it actually is. TB continues to be a stigmatized disease.