Private practitioners' knowledge, attitude and practices about tuberculosis, Hooghly district, India.

SETTING

Allopathic private practitioners (PPs) in Hooghly district, West Bengal, India.

OBJECTIVES

To assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of PPs about diagnosis and management of TB patients and Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) and their involvement in the programme.

METHODS

We randomly selected 260 PPs. Using a self-administered, pre-tested questionnaire, we collected information about investigations prescribed for diagnosis of TB, treatment regimens used, and health education given to TB patients. We collected information about their involvement in RNTCP and reasons for non-involvement.

RESULTS

Only 29 (11%) PPs were involved in RNTCP. 176 (68%) preferred chest x-ray to sputum examination for TB diagnosis. Only 70 (27%) prescribed alternate day regimen. Majority (75%) expressed no faith in RNTCP while 89% opined that maintenance of prescribed RNTCP documents was too difficult. About two-third uninvolved PPs were willing to get involved in RNTCP. Majority (98%) of PPs recommended appreciation by government as a way for increasing their involvement.

CONCLUSION

Knowledge and involvement of PPs in RNTCP in Hooghly district were low. Regular training, greater interaction with programme officers and adequate incentives in different public-private partnership schemes could increase the involvement of PPs in RNTCP as well as increase their knowledge about diagnosis and management of TB patients.