University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, Novi Sad, Serbia.
Institute for Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia.
J Infect Dev Ctries. 2023 Aug 31;17(8):1099-1106. doi: 10.3855/jidc.18112.
In October 2022, after almost two years, tuberculosis reclaimed its first place as the world's deadliest infectious disease, replacing COVID-19. Since knowledge is the most powerful tool to combat any disease, the primary goal of our study was to assess patients' knowledge of tuberculosis and its relationship to their socio-demographic status.
This cross-sectional study included 1,067 respiratory patients who were surveyed between November 2021 and June 2022 at the Institute for Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina (Serbia). They completed a questionnaire designed for this study.
The majority of patients (53.7%) were female; over two-thirds (70.8%) were ≥ 60 years; every fifth (23.2%) was either with or without primary school; every third (33.3%) was financially poor. Although the majority of patients (97.8%) were aware that tuberculosis is an infectious disease, only 44.2% knew the etiology. Around 3/4 (72.6%) were aware of a tuberculosis vaccine. Hospitalized patients had better knowledge that the vaccine helps prevent tuberculosis than ambulatory patients (p = 0.047). Only 16% of patients in both groups knew that tuberculosis incidence is decreasing in Serbia (p = 0.074). Good knowledge about tuberculosis was reported by 71.5%. Hospitalized patients showed better knowledge than ambulatory patients (p = 0.032). Patients with a higher level of education and higher monthly income were independent predictors of better knowledge of tuberculosis.
The study underlines the need to promote knowledge about tuberculosis, particularly among chronic patients, socially vulnerable and refugees, especially in light of the pandemic and emerging economic problems in the region.
2022 年 10 月，经过近两年的时间，结核病重新成为世界上最致命的传染病，取代了 COVID-19。由于知识是对抗任何疾病最有力的工具，我们研究的主要目标是评估患者对结核病的认识及其与社会人口统计学状况的关系。
这是一项横断面研究，共纳入了 1067 名呼吸道疾病患者，他们于 2021 年 11 月至 2022 年 6 月在伏伊伏丁那肺病研究所（塞尔维亚）接受调查。他们填写了为这项研究设计的问卷。
大多数患者（53.7%）为女性；超过三分之二（70.8%）年龄≥60 岁；每五分之一（23.2%）为小学及以下文化程度；每三分之一（33.3%）经济贫困。尽管大多数患者（97.8%）知道结核病是一种传染病，但只有 44.2%知道病因。大约有 3/4（72.6%）的患者知道有结核病疫苗。住院患者比门诊患者更了解疫苗有助于预防结核病（p = 0.047）。两组患者中均有 16%的人知道结核病在塞尔维亚的发病率正在下降（p = 0.074）。有 71.5%的患者表示对结核病有较好的了解。住院患者比门诊患者表现出更好的知识水平（p = 0.032）。教育程度较高和月收入较高的患者是结核病知识较好的独立预测因素。
该研究强调需要加强结核病知识的宣传，特别是针对慢性患者、社会弱势群体和难民，特别是在大流行和该地区新出现的经济问题的背景下。
