Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices regarding Pulmonary Tuberculosis among Saudi Arabia Community in 2017

Abstract

Background: Despite the improvements in the health care education of management in KSA, the prevalence of tuberculosis remains alarming. Objectives: Evaluation of the knowledge, attitude and practice among Saudi population regarding pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methods: A multi-center community cross sectional study was assessed among random sample of 2056 adult Saudi subjects from different regions in KSA. All participants filled out a questionnaire that included questions about demographics, awareness, attitude and practice about pulmonary tuberculosis. Results: Most of participants (76.8%) had general knowledge about TB disease and only 23.2% haven't heard about TB before. The majority of Saudi adult (74.9%) have inadequate knowledge about TB and only 25.1% have good knowledge regarding TB. The attitude of respondents about TB was negative among most of them while most of participants had a good practice level but it needs to be increased. There was a significant association between young age and high educational degree with good knowledge about TB. Conclusion: KAP of Saudi population toward TB seems to be facing some challenges in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The awareness, attitude and practice need to be significantly evaluated in different studies to improve control policies for reducing the disease incidence in our society. The prevention of TB and management are based on good knowledge and education of Saudi population thus the health authorities should intensify efforts and arranging specific educational programs about the disease and the consequences of spreading infection among large sector of the population. Also, means of discovery, medication should receive special attention by the governmental medical authorities.

Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding tuberculosis among the patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra, India: a cross sectional study

“…About 71% of the subjects in a study conducted by Tolossa D et al stated they will go to health facility for treatment. 7 Similar findings were reported by our study, Easwaran et al, Konda SG et al, Angeline GG et al, Aseeri AA et al, Solliman MA et al and Rana MM et al 9,10,5,14,15,18 Haasnoot PJ et al, reported that 72% of the subjects in their study correctly stated that tuberculosis can be treatable and 6% stated correctly that TB can be cured. 6 Kigozi et al, reported that about 96.3% of their study subjects believed that TB can be cured.…”

“…The most common symptom stated was cough with expectoration (51.33%) in our study. 7,10,11,5,14,17,18 Hibstu DT et al, conducted a study to assess knowledge among school students in their area about TB and found that 59.8% had good knowledge about the cause and transmission of the disease. 12 Another study conducted by Howley MM et al, among the whites and blacks in the US reported that the white participants had higher knowledge score about the cause, transmission and clinical presentation of TB when compared to black participants.…”

“…19 About 60.67% of the study subjects in our study felt that TB was a very serious disease. 7,8,[13][14][15][16][17][18] In our study, about 54% said the community will treat the patient with rejection, 22.67% will react with compassion and 13.33% said they shall support them throughout the course to make him feel better. Kigozi et al, inferred that about 49.3% strongly disagreed that they will be embarrassed if their TB status is revealed in the clinic to others.…”

“…8 Aseeri AA et al, reported that 62% of the subjects would have fear if they were diagnosed with TB and rest said they will be sad. 14 In spite of so many educational programmes being conducted across the world on TB the attitude of the general population is almost same throughout.…”

The Effectiveness of Tuberculosis Education Programme in Kelantan, Malaysia on Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and Stigma Towards Tuberculosis among Adolescents

“…The negative attitude was reported as majority thought they will not suffer from TB, feel fears towards TB and less than half would search for treatment. Of the respondents, 42.3% would avoid people with TB and 29.9% of respondents actually have fear towards them ( 25 ). An interventional study done in Iran regarding the effectiveness of TB health education suggested that interventions should focus on the culture and beliefs of a population in order to improve and to maintain positive attitudes.…”