Community knowledge, attitude, and practices towards tuberculosis in Shinile town, Somali regional state, eastern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundThough tuberculosis (TB) is preventable and curable, its global burden remains enormous. Similarly, TB is one of the major public health problems in Ethiopia, particularly in geographically isolated areas like Shinile town. The people in Shinile town, Somali Regional State of Ethiopia, are underserved in all forms of health care and suffer from high burden of TB. Low level of knowledge about TB could affect the health-seeking behavior of patients and sustain the transmission of the disease within the community. Therefore, the current study was undertaken in Shinile town with the objective of assessing communities’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards TB.MethodsCommunity-based cross-sectional survey, involving 410 randomly selected individuals, was conducted in Shinile town from January to May, 2013. Data were analyzed using STATA V.11. Logistic regression technique was used to determine the association between socio-demographic characteristics and communities’ knowledge of TB.ResultsWhile 94.9% of the respondents said that they ever heard about TB, only 22.9% knew that TB is caused by bacteria. Eighty percent have awareness that TB can be transmitted from a patient to another person and 79.3% know that transmission of TB can be preventable. Persistence cough (72.4%) was the most commonly stated symptom of TB and modern drugs used in health institutions (68.1%) was the preferred choice of treatment. Two hundred and ninety one respondents (71.0%) said that they would seek treatment at health facility if they realized that they had symptoms related to TB. Two hundred and twenty seven respondents (55.4%) considered TB as a very serious disease and 284 (69.3%) would experience fear if they themselves had TB. Individuals with educational level of grade 8 up to grade 12 had increased odds of having good level of overall TB knowledge compared to illiterate individuals (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2 to 4.6).ConclusionThe communities in Shinile town have basic awareness about TB which is not translated into the knowledge about the cause of the disease. Therefore, health education directed towards bringing a significant change in the knowledge of TB must be stepped-up within the TB control program.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-804) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Knowledge, attitude and practices regarding pulmonary tuberculosis in a rural area of Tamil Nadu, India: a cross sectional study

“…This low awareness on the cause was also reported in a Sudanese study in which only 2% respondents and in the Ethiopian study in which 22.9% respondents had knowledge on the cause of TB. 15,17 A similar study among sandstone quarry workers in Rajasthan reported very low awareness (1.6%) on the cause of TB. 18 On the other hand, Koay TK et al in their study in Malaysia and Malhotra et al in their study in Delhi stated that nearly half of the participants were aware of the cause of TB.…”

“…Similarly, Tolossa et al reported 80% of awareness regarding PTB transmission in their study. 15 In our study, less number of participants (35.3%) was aware that PTB transmission is preventable. Whereas in the study by Chinnakali et al, 75% of the subjects and in the study by Elbur et al, 58.6% mentioned that PTB can be prevented.…”

“…Tolossa et al reported that people with high education level had increased odds of having good knowledge towards PTB. 15 Konda in their study found that low knowledge was associated with less education and low income. 21…”

“…In a study done by Konda SG in an urban township in Mumbai, 48.4% of the subjects, and in the study by Chinnakali et al in Puducherry, 82% of the subjects, and in the study by Tolossa et al in Ethiopia, 72.4% of the subjects mentioned persistent cough as the most common symptom. 15,16,21 The awareness on the symptoms varies widely with different study settings. Knowledge on the symptoms of PTB is very vital as it guides the patients in seeking medical care without delay.…”

“…This is similar to a study done in Ethiopia by Tolossa et al where 94.9% were aware of the disease and a study in Tamilnadu by Chinnakali et al where 94% have heard about the disease. 15,16 However, the knowledge on the bacteria as the cause of TB was limited, as many of them suggested other causes like cold air, hot climate, tobacco smoke and food shortage. This low awareness on the cause was also reported in a Sudanese study in which only 2% respondents and in the Ethiopian study in which 22.9% respondents had knowledge on the cause of TB.…”