A study on awareness of Tuberculosis amongst patients attending a rural health center in Tamilnadu, Indi

Authors

  • Vijayakrishnan G. Department of Community Medicine, SRM Medical College Hospital & RC, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Swetha Bobba Department of Community Medicine, SRM Medical College Hospital & RC, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Vishal Venugopal Department of Community Medicine, SRM Medical College Hospital & RC, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20171348

Keywords:

TB awareness, Rural health center patients

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis has turned out to be one of the complex health issues worldwide. In the year 2015, there were an estimated 10.4 million new (incident) TB cases worldwide, of which 5.9 million (56%) were among men, 3.5 million (34%) among women and 1.0 million (10%) among children. People living with HIV accounted for 1.2 million (11%) of all new TB cases.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted amongst patients attending the OPD of rural health center of a medical college hospital at Kancheepuram. Data were collected between March 11th to May 10th for a period of about 2 months. A total of 200 patients were included for this study. Two hundred patients who attended the OPD between March 11th to May 10th were selected as study subjects.

Results: Of the 200 participants who participated in this study 104 were males (52%) and 96 were females (48%). Knowledge regarding Tuberculosis was assessed based on analyzing the data regarding knowledge on various aspects of the disease like cause, perception, mode of spread, prevention and treatment. About 160 study subjects (80%) had heard about the disease tuberculosis before and only a minority (20%) reported that they had never heard tuberculosis before.

Conclusions: Though the population is aware of the disease Tuberculosis, their knowledge about its risk factors, mode of spread and treatment is not satisfactory. It is observed that several misconceptions about the disease still exist amongst the study population. There is need to provide essential knowledge about Tuberculosis to the general population. 

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Author Biographies

Vijayakrishnan G., Department of Community Medicine, SRM Medical College Hospital & RC, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India

Assistant Professor,

Department of Community Medicine 

Swetha Bobba, Department of Community Medicine, SRM Medical College Hospital & RC, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India

Medical Intern,

Department of Community Medicine

References

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Updated and interim estimates of TB disease burden in India and plans for a national TB prevalence survey in 2017/2018: WHO office; Global actions and investment fall far short of those needed to end global TB epidemic, 2016.

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Published

2017-03-28

How to Cite

G., V., Bobba, S., & Venugopal, V. (2017). A study on awareness of Tuberculosis amongst patients attending a rural health center in Tamilnadu, Indi. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 4(4), 1195–1198. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20171348

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Section

Original Research Articles