Knowledge, Attitude And Practices Regarding Tuberculosis Among Treatment Partners Attending Urban Health Care Centre, KMC, Mangalore-A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background and Objective : This study aims to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards tuberculosis (TB) among
treatment partners seen at the out-patient department (OPD) of the Lady Hill Urban Health Care Centre, KMC, Mangalore from
April to May 2009. Methodology: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and
practices towards TB among treatment partners (age more than 12 years old; pediatric age group was excluded) seen at the OPD. A
pre-validated questionnaire, which consisted of 20 questions, was distributed to treatment partners of these patients. Results: Out
of the 184 respondents, 154 (83.70%) were aware of and had good knowledge about TB. Eighty-one percent of the respondents
had acceptable attitudes and practices toward the disease. 96% were aware that TB is a highly infectious disease, while 79.3%
believed that it is a curable disease. The main source of information about tuberculosis was the mass media (newspapers, television
and radio) in 42.5% of the respondents. In the survey, only 16.3% patients were aware about DOTS and only 42.4% knew about
free treatment services. Conclusion: There is still a need to strengthen the educational activities on TB through mass media; they
are excellent venues for information-dissemination, thus, leading to better case detection.