Chinnakali Palanivel, Ramakrishnan Jayalakshmy, Vasudevan Kavita, Gurumurthy Jayanthi, Upadhyay Ravi P, Panigrahi Krishna C
Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Puducherry, India.
Lung India. 2013 Apr;30(2):139-42. doi: 10.4103/0970-2113.110422.
Tuberculosis (TB) remains as an important public health problem in India. Awareness about the disease, its diagnosis, and treatment among public will help in controlling the killer disease. This study aims at arriving at an educational diagnosis about TB in an urban poor community.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban slum in South India using a structured, pretested questionnaire. Domains identified were knowledge about TB, symptoms, spread, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of TB.
A total of 395 households were interviewed. Of them, 370 (94%) respondents had heard about TB. Regarding the symptoms of TB, 82% were aware that cough is a symptom of TB. Among the 79% of study subjects who reported any test to diagnose TB, sputum examination as a method of diagnosis was known to only 40%. However, 84% of the subjects were aware of the free treatment available for TB under National program.
Level of awareness about TB among urban poor in a slum area is good. Knowledge about "free treatment" and "duration of treatment" has to be stressed during health education activities.
结核病在印度仍然是一个重要的公共卫生问题。提高公众对该疾病及其诊断和治疗的认识将有助于控制这一致命疾病。本研究旨在对一个城市贫困社区的结核病进行教育诊断。
在印度南部的一个城市贫民窟进行了一项横断面研究，使用了一份经过预测试的结构化问卷。确定的领域包括结核病的知识、症状、传播、诊断、治疗和预防。
共采访了395户家庭。其中，370名（94%）受访者听说过结核病。关于结核病的症状，82%的人知道咳嗽是结核病的症状。在报告进行过任何结核病诊断检查的79%的研究对象中，只有40%的人知道痰检是一种诊断方法。然而，84%的研究对象知道国家项目下结核病可享受免费治疗。
贫民窟地区城市贫困人口对结核病的认识水平良好。在健康教育活动中必须强调关于“免费治疗”和“治疗疗程”的知识。
