Army Soldiers' Knowledge of, Attitude Towards, and Preventive Behavior Towards Tuberculosis in Korea

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Preventative Behavior Toward Tuberculosis in University Students in Indonesia

Purpose

This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and preventative behaviors of university students in Indonesia toward Tuberculosis (TB).

Patients and Methods

Participants included students from a university in West Java, Indonesia, who were aged ≥18 years, had access to electronic communication devices and the internet, and agreed to participate in this study. This cross-sectional study invited participants to fill an online questionnaire on Google Forms, and the study was conducted from February to March 2021. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the demographic characteristics of participants. Differences in participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and preventative behavior were analyzed using t-test. Spearman correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationships between variables. Characteristics of participants that influenced preventative behavior toward TB were analyzed using linear multiple regression analysis.

Results

This study included 524 students. The average knowledge scores out of a possible 11 points of health and non-health students were 7.03 ± 2.36 (out of 11) and 4.98 ± 2.20, respectively. The attitude was 45.40 ± 4.17 (out of 52), 43.75 ± 4.09 respectively, and their average scores out of 44 for preventative behaviors toward TB were 33.08 ± 4.49 and 33.16 ± 4.40, respectively. Female students and students from health faculties demonstrated greater knowledge and better attitudes. Students with a postgraduate academic degree had better knowledge and attitudes and engaged in more preventative behavior. Students who did not smoke had greater knowledge than those who did, and students who had received information about TB engaged in more preventative behavior.

Conclusion

Faculty, knowledge of symptoms, preventative examinations, and attitudes toward preventative examinations, treatment, and preventative education, were found to affect TB prevention behavior. These variables should be emphasized in the development of university TB socialization and education programs. The internet and social media should be used in TB education for students.

Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice on tuberculosis among teacher trainees of Samtse College of Education, Bhutan

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in Bhutan despite the implementation of directly observed treatment short-course since 1997. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice on TB among the teacher trainees of Samtse College of Education.

Methodology

A cross-sectional study was conducted among the teacher trainees of Samtse College of Education. A standardized pretested questionnaire was distributed and self-administered. The participants were selected randomly using randomization. The data was entered in Epi-data 4.4.2.1 and analysed using STATA version 13. A score of 1 point for a correct answer and 0 for wrong/don’t know answer was given. The knowledge, attitude and practice score were divided into good and poor based on 50% cut off. Logistic regression was used for the analysis to identify the significant covariates.

Results

A total of 420 trainees responded to the survey questionnaire. The average knowledge score on TB was 10.7 (Range = 0–21). Two hundred and forty respondents (58.6%) had low knowledge (mean score 7.8±2.5) on TB. Cough, chest pain and weight loss were correctly reported as the symptoms of TB by 306 (72.9%), 187(44.5%) and 187 (44.5%) participants. Eighty-nine-point five percent (376) of participants reported coughing as the main route of TB transmission and 85% (357) of the participants said that it could be prevented by covering the mouth while coughing. In multivariable analysis; the trainees in the junior years of college had good knowledge of TB compared with the senior years (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18–3.5; p-value 0.011). Respondents previously treated for TB were more likely to have good knowledge on TB compared to those who never had TB in the past (AOR 2.39; 95% CI 1.07–5.31; p-value 0.033). The majority (93%) of respondents had a good attitude towards TB cases. Female trainees were 2.4 (95% CI 1.02–5.62; p-value 0.045) times more likely than male trainees to have a positive attitude towards TB. Eighty-eight percent of the respondents reported that they would visit the hospital if they had TB symptoms. The mean score for the practice on TB was 1.33±0.59 (Range:0–2).

Conclusion

In this study, the majority of the trainees had poor knowledge on TB, especially among the trainees in senior years of college and those who had never suffered from TB. The attitude towards TB was good especially among the female trainees. However, the overall practice was poor among the participants. Therefore, the Ministry of Health should collaborate with relevant stakeholders especially the Ministry of Education to incorporate topics on TB in the syllabus of students and colleges to create awareness on it.

The Infectivity of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Korean Army Units: Evidence from Outbreak Investigations

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) causes substantial health burden to the Korean military. This study aims to assess the impact of infectious TB cases on close and casual contacts in the Korean Army settings based on contact investigation data.

Methods

Six Army units with infectious TB cases from September 2012 to May 2013 were enrolled in the study. We analyzed the clinical data from close and casual contacts screened using the tuberculin skin test (TST) and QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube to identify latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) cases. For the control group, 286 military conscripts with no reported TB exposure were tested by TST only.

Results

Of the 667 contacts of index cases, LTBI cases identified were as follows: 21.8% of close contacts of smear-positive cases (71/326), 8.5% of casual contacts of smear-positive cases (26/305), and 2.8% of close contacts of smear-negative cases (1/36). In the control group, 16.8% showed positivity in TST. In a multivariate analysis, having stayed in the same room or next room with TB patients was identified as a risk factor of LTBI.

Conclusion

Using the data from TB contact investigations in the Korean Army units, we found an overall LTBI rate of 14.7% among the contacts screened. This study demonstrates that contacts living in the same building, especially the same room or next room, with TB patients are at a high risk of acquiring LTBI, serving as additional evidence for defining close and casual contacts of a TB patient with regard to Army barrack settings.