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Article History

Received: 14 March 2026

Accepted: 24 June 2026

First Online: 4 July 2026

Declarations

:

: Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) of KS Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte University, under clearance certificate number KSNH/IEC/2023/1372, dated 17 November 2023. The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines for biomedical research involving human participants. Necessary administrative permissions were obtained from the District Tuberculosis Officer (DTO), the State Tuberculosis Officer (STO), and the local Panchayat prior to recruitment of study participants. Oral and/or written informed consent was obtained from all participants before data collection. Confidentiality and anonymity were ensured by de-identifying participant data during analysis. Privacy and participants’ status were strictly maintained throughout the study.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.