A study on the knowledge and attitude regarding the prevention of tuberculosis among adults in selected rural area of Dehradun, Uttarakhand
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) in many developing countries, including India, is a public health problem. Despite being a treatable and preventable disease, India has been fighting TB for more than 50 years. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of adults in selected rural areas.
Material and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 127 adults of Jolly Grant village, Doiwala, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Data were collected through an interview method by a door-to-door survey with the help of sociodemographic data, a structured knowledge questionnaire, and a Likert scale. The participants were selected using randomization.
Results: The mean percentage of knowledge score was (11.65 ± 3.62) 58.25% and the mean percentage of attitude score was (48.34 ± 6.4) 80.5%. Most of the adults 68 (53%) had average knowledge followed by 48(38%) good and 11(9%) had poor knowledge. Most adults 67 (53%) had a positive attitude followed by 60 (47%) negative attitudes about the prevention of tuberculosis. A significant relationship was found between education level and education level, family type and understanding of tuberculosis (p < 0.05). A moderate positive correlation (0.557) was found between knowledge and attitude.
Conclusion: The need was found to improve the knowledge and attitude of the general population on the different domains as there was a lack of knowledge regarding prevention and general information on causes, risk factors, treatment, vaccines, and isolation of TB patients.