A study on knowledge and awareness about tuberculosis in senior school children in Bangalore, India.

BACKGROUND

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), commonly affecting the lungs. All health care professionals including the pharmacists provide a valuable public health role in promoting community awareness of TB particularly in reducing stigma attached to TB. Thus, creating awareness at a community level could play a vital role in control and prevention of TB.

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether educational intervention would affect the level of TB awareness among students of selected schools and pre-university colleges (PUCs) in Bangalore urban and Bangalore rural regions.

METHODOLOGY

The present study was conducted among the students of 8th, 9th, 10th and PUC in Bangalore rural and urban jurisdiction (n=2635). A questionnaire was designed in English and Kannada language, consisting of 20 questions with multiple-choice answers. A 30-minute visual health education was given on TB in English, followed by general pictorial presentation, and the data were collected as pre-test and post-test.

RESULTS

Data collected from 2635 participants during pre- and post-education session revealed that mean score improved from 8.77±2.59 to 14.95±1.99. Impact of the education session showed a significant knowledge improvement about TB from 1.59% (pre-education) to 49.67% (post-education).

CONCLUSION

The present study clearly demonstrated that a simple, 30-minute health education session did have a positive impact on knowledge and awareness about TB among school children as observed with increase in mean knowledge score from pre-test to post-test, indicating that empowerment of students could guide the community on various aspects of TB.