Association of Social Capital With Tuberculosis: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Analytical Study in South India

Social capital denotes the relationships, networks, norms and values in the community. A high level of social capital positively improves health through a supportive social system. Illnesses affect health and social relationships. One such disease is tuberculosis (TB), known for its social stigma. India has the highest burden of morbidity and mortality due to TB. The assessment of social capital would highlight the importance of a supportive environment in reducing the disease burden and bringing better treatment outcomes.

A cross-sectional exploratory analytical study was conducted in two primary health centers in Puducherry between February 2020 and March 2021. Considering the feasibility and resource constraints, we assessed the social capital between 50 newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients, their age- and gender-matched 50 household contacts (HHCs) and 50 PTB patients who completed treatment a year before. The HHC was either the marital partner or sibling of the newly diagnosed PTB patients selected for comparison as their exposure to infection would be similar to those diseased but did not develop the illness. Social capital and its domains were assessed using the World Bank's social capital questionnaire. Sociodemographic characteristics and social capital domains were compared using a chi-squared test. Mean standardized Z-scores of the domains were compared using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). A p-value of <0.05 is taken as significant.

Most participants from each group belonged to lower socioeconomic strata and were males (80%). The overall level of social capital was low among the newly diagnosed PTB patients, especially the group and network and trust and solidarity domains. The mean standardized Z-scores of social capital were the highest among the HHCs, followed by the treatment-completed PTB patients. There was no consistent pattern, but the trust and solidarity domain showed a statistically significant difference.

A low level of social capital and its domains were seen among the newly diagnosed PTB patients. However, better scores among the HHCs and the treatment-completed patients infer a negative association between social capital and TB. Thus, higher social capital preserves and improves health. Therefore, caregivers and disease-cured patients can be utilized as a social support system for current diseased patients and improve their health status.