Knowledge on Symptoms, Transmission and Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis- Single Centre Study

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis, caused by mycobacteria, is a major health hazard in our country. This disease can spread to any organ or system in the body resulting in destructive lesions which are clinically significant. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of symptoms, transmission and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis among patients and their relatives visiting the outpatient department (OPD) at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital. Method: A crosssectional study conducted at the OPD of Colombo South Teaching Hospital. The study included 384 participants above 18 years of age. Verbal and written consent was obtained from all participants. Data was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire & the results were analysed by Pearson chi-squared (SPSS 16 version) method. Results: In our study the majority of participants were found to have a ��������ode����ate���� k����o����ledge of tu����e��������ulosis. K����o����ledge of the symptoms, transmission and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis significantly correlated with the demographic variables other than gender, age and profession (p < 0.05). A high percentage of participants (95.8%) knew that pulmonary tuberculosis is curable and that prolonged cough (93.8%) is an important symptom of the disease. However, only 45.6% knew that HIV infection is a risk factor for the development of tuberculosis. The pa����ti����ipa����ts���� k����o����ledge of the ����ausati����e o����ga����is���� of TB and its transmission from mother to fetus was considerably low. A high proportion of participants (83.1%) knew that inhalation of infectious droplets is the most common route of transmission of TB. Awareness of preventive measures (covering the mouth and nose while coughing or sneezing-67.2%) and the treatment plan of tuberculosis was at a high level. Conclusion: Except gender, age and profession, other demographic variables (education level and monthly income) is significantly correlated with the level of knowledge of tuberculosis (p<0.05).