Study on knowledge about associated factors of Tuberculosis (TB) and TB/HIV co-infection among young adults in two districts of South Africa

Abstract

South Africa ranks third among 22 high burden countries in the world. TB which remains a leading cause of death causes one in five adult deaths in South Africa. An in-depth understanding of knowledge, attitudes and practices of young people towards TB is required to implement meaningful interventions. We analysed young men and women (18–24 years)’s TB knowledge including TB/HIV coinfections, testing rates and factors associated with them. A cross sectional cluster-based household survey was conducted in two provinces. Participants completed computer-assisted self-interviews on TB knowledge, testing history and TB/HIV coinfections. A participant was regarded as knowledgeable of TB if s/he correctly answered the WHO-adopted TB knowledge questions. We built three multivariate regression models in Stata 13.0 to assess factors associated with knowing TB alone, testing alone and both knowing and testing for TB. 1955 participants were interviewed (89.9% response rate). Their median age was 20 years (IQR19-22). Sixteen percent (16.2%) of the participants were social grant recipients, 55% were enrolled in a school/college and 5% lived in substandard houses. A total of 72% had knowledge of TB, 21% underwent screening tests for TB and 14.7% knew and tested for TB. Factors associated with TB knowledge were being female, younger, a student, social grant recipient, not transacting sex and having positive attitudes towards people living with HIV (PLWH). Factors associated with TB testing were being a student, receiving a social grant, living in OR Tambo district, HIV knowledge and having a family member with TB history. Factors associated with both TB knowledge and testing were being female, a student, using the print media, living in OR Tambo district and having a family member with a TB history. The study demonstrates the importance of demographic factors (gender, economic status, family TB history, and location) and HIV factors in explaining TB knowledge and testing. We recommend extending community TB testing services to increase testing.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness, attitudes and uptake willingness among young people: gender differences and associated factors in two South African districts

“…Data were collected through a household survey. The detailed study methods were previously reported elsewhere [ 25 ].…”

“…TB knowledge was assessed using eight questions that covered transmission, treatment and HIV/co-infection. Answering at least six questions was judged as knowledgeable of TB [ 25 ]. Four questions were used to judge a participant’s TB stigma through asking community attitudes towards people living with TB.…”

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of young adults towards HIV prevention: an analysis of baseline data from a community-based HIV prevention intervention study in two high HIV burden districts, South Africa

“…The sampling design used was multi-stage cluster sampling. The methodology for this study has been described elsewhere [6]. The only one district from Mpumalanga province (Nkangala district) was purposively selected while one district from Eastern Cape province (OR Tambo district) was randomly selected from 4 districts for inclusion in the study.…”

“…The individual responses for each participant were added and scored. We set the level of positive or accepting attitudes towards people living with HIV (PLWH) at 7 [6]. Being guided by the notion that community attitudes more broadly influence individual attitudes and also given that the study was conducted to enable an understanding of community views ahead of a community-wide programme of HIV testing, we assessed community HIV testing attitudes.…”

Determinants of adherence to clinic appointments among tuberculosis and HIV co-infected individuals attending care at Helen Joseph Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa

“…South Africa is among the world´s most affected with TB/HIV co-infection contributing to an estimated 20% of the global burden of TB/HIV co-infections [ 15 ]. This has created a scenario where a large proportion of TB/HIV co-infected individuals in South Africa require concurrent treatment for TB and HIV/AIDS [ 16 ].…”