Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding tuberculosis amongst healthcare workers in Moyen-Ogooué Province, Gabon

Abstract

Background In countries with a high tuberculosis incidence such as Gabon, healthcare workers are at enhanced risk to become infected with tuberculosis due to their occupational exposure. In addition, transmission can occur between patients and visitors, if a tuberculosis infection is not suspected in time. Knowledge about tuberculosis and correct infection control measures are therefore highly relevant in healthcare settings. Methods We conducted an interviewer-administered knowledge, attitude and practice survey amongst healthcare workers in 20 healthcare facilities at all levels in the Moyen-Ogooué province, Gabon. Correctly answered knowledge questions were scored and then categorised into four knowledge levels. Additionally, factors associated with high knowledge levels were identified. Fisher’s Exact test was used to identify factors associated with high knowledge levels. Results A total of 103 questionnaires were completed by various healthcare personnel. The most-frequently scored category was ‘intermediate knowledge’, which was scored by 40.8% (42/103), followed by ‘good knowledge’ with 28.2% (29/103) and ‘poor knowledge’ with 21.4% (22/103) of participating healthcare workers, respectively. ‘Excellent knowledge’ was achieved by 9.7% (10/103) of the interviewees. Apart from the profession, education level, type of employing healthcare facility, as well as former training on tuberculosis were significantly associated with high knowledge scores. Attitudes were generally positive towards tuberculosis infection control efforts. Of note, healthcare workers reported that infection control measures were not consistently practiced; 72.8% (75/103) of the participants were scared of becoming infected with tuberculosis, and 98.1% saw a need for improvement of local tuberculosis control. Conclusions The survey results lead to the assumption that healthcare workers in the Moyen-Ogooué province are at high risk to become infected with tuberculosis. There is an urgent need for improvement of tuberculosis infection control training for local healthcare personnel, particularly for less trained staff such as assistant nurses. Furthermore, the lack of adequate infection control measures reported by staff could possibly be correlated with a lack of adequate facility structures and protective equipment and requires further investigation.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice on Pediatric Tuberculosis Management among Healthcare Workers in the Centre Region of Cameroon: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Our findings are similar to those of previous studies conducted in South Arabia [ 26 ] and Uganda [ 27 ], which also reported that 52% of HCWs had good knowledge on pediatric TB management. However, the proportion of HCWs with good knowledge found in our study was lower compared to studies conducted in Gabon (79.7%) [ 15 ] and Peru (67.3%) [ 28 ]. The difference may be due to the variation in study design, methods, and the tools that were used to measure knowledge in these studies [ 29 ].…”

“…HCWs who had received training on pediatric TB in the last five years had significantly higher knowledge levels than their colleagues who did not receive such training. Previous studies conducted in Gabon [ 15 ] and Mozambique [ 18 ] reported similar factors influencing pediatric TB knowledge among HCWs. This finding highlights the importance of providing HCWs with training opportunities (e.g., refresher training, regular in-service training programs by external institutions, etc.)…”

“…The study questionnaire was developed in English after reviewing published literature [ 15 , 23 ], the union course on pediatric TB, and the WHO guidelines for designing TB KAP surveys [ 24 ]. After an initial draft of the questionnaire was designed, it was improved using feedback and opinions from a team including clinicians, a social scientist, and an epidemiologist with experience in TB and KAP studies.…”

Attitudes of Healthcare Workers about Prevention and Control of Nosocomial Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Infection in Two Top-Ranked Tuberculosis Specialized Public Hospitals of Ethiopia

“…On top of these, the frequency of exposure to the latest information, training, and national MDR-TB policies among the current study participants might upscale the proportion of the attitude score in the two national TB-specialized A comparable attitude to our study, a previous study on attitudes regarding tuberculosis amongst healthcare workers in Moyen-Ogooué Province of Gabon revealed that attitudes were generally positive toward tuberculosis infection control eforts. Healthcare workers reported that infection control measures were not consistently practiced; 72.8% (75/103) of the participants were scared of becoming infected with tuberculosis; and 98.1% saw a need for improvement of local tuberculosis control [34]. Notable sociopolitical and policy infuences impacting TB-IPC implementation include stigma against TB and the availability of facility-specifc TB-IPC policies, respectively.…”

Tuberculosis infection control measures in healthcare facilities in Moyen-Ogooué Province, Gabon

“…Routine data collected officially report on average two cases of TB among health care workers each year, but the basis of this report is unclear. At the time of this study, there was no systematic TB training programme for HCW implemented in Gabon [ 10 ].…”