TITLE:
Knowledge of Tuberculosis, Services of TB Control Programme and Associated Socio-Demographic Inequity among Rural Participants of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India: A Cross Sectional Study
AUTHORS:
Praveen Kumar Anand, Vikas Dhikav, Swarn Lata, Monika Rathore, Gurudayal Singh Toteja, Bhawar Manohar Singh, Chet Ram Meena, Murli Lal Mathur
KEYWORDS:
India, Inequity, Knowledge, Tuberculosis
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Tuberculosis Research,
Vol.11 No.2,
June
8,
2023
ABSTRACT: Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of
death worldwide. India is still the highest TB burden country. There is a scarcity
of data on TB knowledge from Rajasthan state of India. Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the
prevalence of knowledge about TB and services of TB control programme and to
determine its correlates among rural population of
Jaipur, Rajasthan. Methods: Cross-sectional community based study was
carried out at Model Rural Health Research Unit, Jaipur, a unit of Department
of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of
India. Results: Study reports the result from 1993 adult participants
from 10 villages of 2 sub-districts of district Jaipur. About 88.9% of studied
participants knew that TB is an infectious disease and it spreads from TB
patient to healthy person in close contact. Only 22.3% of participants knew “DOTS is
the treatment for TB”. While, only 58.9% knew “sputum
is used for diagnosis of TB” at
health centers. Scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward
classes social groups knew less than the mainstream “General” social
group. The observed difference was statistically significant (p 0.05).
Logistic regression analysis estimated the relative contribution to knowledge
status. Conclusion: The knowledge of study participants on transmission
of tuberculosis was similar to knowledge of population in country wide study.
They poorly knew sputum is used for diagnosing tuberculosis disease;
socio-demographic inequity exists in this knowledge too. People from older age
groups, underprivileged social groups and minority need extra educational
activities.