Knowledge of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis amongst Durban University of Technology students in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: the need for integrating public health education.

BACKGROUND

Kwazulu-Natal is the epicenter of South Africa's Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) burden which represents a growing threat to public health. Knowledge and awareness of MDR-TB are crucial for effective management and University students are an important vehicle for knowledge transfer of public health education.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of MDR TB and risk factors for transmission, prevention, treatment and control of MDR-TB among Durban University of Technology (DUT) students.

METHODS

This quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 randomly sampled undergraduate students from 3 faculties and data was collected using a validated questionnaire.

RESULTS

While a majority of participants (70.67%) had previous knowledge on TB, only 30.67% knew of MDR-TB. Only 23.49% of students reported knowledge of preventative measures associated with MDR TB. Women had a lower probability of having knowledge of MDR-TB compared to men (OR=0.45; CI:0.22,0.95; p<0.05) and students from the Accounting and Informatics faculty were less likely to believe that MDR-TB was a life-threatening illness (OR=0.24; CI:0.05,1.44; p<0.05) and showed limited knowledge of MDR-TB transmission.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that students lacked knowledge of MDR-TB with respect to risk factors, treatment and prevention, which necessitates intervention strategies at a tertiary level to educate and inform students about MDR-TB.