TUBERCULOSIS (TB) HEALTH EDUCATION: TB KNOWLEDGE AMONG SMEAR-POSITIVE PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS (PTB) PATIENTS IN KUALA LUMPUR AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH SPUTUM SMEAR CONVERSION

Received 2022-04-25; Accepted 2022-09-01; Published 2022-12-31

Authors

  • Radhiyatul Akma Mohamad Zani Department of Community Health, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 13200 Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
  • Noorsuzana Mohd Shariff Department of Community Health, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 13200 Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22452/jummec.sp2022no1.20

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to determine the factors influencing TB literacy among smear-positive pulmonary TB patients at the second month of treatment. The secondary objective was to investigate the difference in TB knowledge between patients with persistent sputum smear-positive and smear converted patients.The study was conducted as a cross-sectional study which involved 150 smear positive PTB patients. Patients’ knowledge of TB was assessed using a set of a pre-tested standardized questionnaire. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS software version 24.0 for Windows (IBM Corporation, New York, United States). Descriptive data for continuous variables are presented as mean and standard deviation. Meanwhile, descriptive data for categorical variables are presented as frequencies and percentages. Data were analyzed by using binary logistic regression analysis. Overall, 26.0% (n= 39) of the patients had an unsatisfactory knowledge of Tuberculosis. Although the majority of the patients were aware that TB is infectious, many scored low for three critical aspects of stopping TB which were poor knowledge on the source of TB infection, the mode of transmission, and the correct preventive measures. Two factors which were gender (male: adj OR= 3.91, 95% CI= 1.09-14.00) and ethnicity (Chinese: adj OR= 10.24, 95% CI= 3.03-34.63; Immigrants: adj OR= 4.59, 95% CI= 1.10-19.12) were independently associated with unsatisfactory TB knowledge after controlling the age, gender, ethnicity, job and level of education. No significant difference was observed between the mean knowledge of patients with persistent sputum positivity (5.35±1.40) and those sputum converted TB patients (5.47±1.64) (crude OR= 0.95, 95% CI= 0.77-1.17, p=0.628). Gender and ethnicity were the independent factors that affected TB literacy. However, the TB literacy does not significantly associated with patients’ smear positivity at second month of intensive anti-TB treatment.

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Published

2022-12-31

Issue

Special Issue 1 (2022) Combating disease: Current trends, risk, treatment and prevention

Section

Research article

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All authors agree that the article, if editorially accepted for publication, shall be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 to allow others to freely access, copy and use research provided the author is correctly attributed, unless otherwise stated. All articles are available online without charge or other barriers to access. However, anyone wishing to reproduce large quantities of an article (250+) should inform the publisher. Any opinion expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not reflect that of the University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.