Concerns about the knowledge and attitude of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis among health care workers and patients in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Inadequate knowledge and wrong perception of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) by Health Care Workers (HCWs) and patients are detrimental to tuberculosis control programs.

Objective: The aim was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of HCWs and TB patients about MDR-TB in Delta State, Nigeria.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among HCWs and TB patients in Delta State, Nigeria. Data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.

Results: Ninety-six HCWs and 114 TB patients were studied. The HCWs (mean age 43.0 ± 10.1 years) were older than the patients (mean age 41.7 ± 16.9 years). A higher proportion (54.2%) of HCWs had tertiary education, but only 15% of the patients had above secondary education. Eight (8.3%) HCWs and majority (60.5%) of the patients had no knowledge about of MDR-TB. Only 18.4% of patients compared to 61.5% of HCWs had good knowledge of MDR-TB. Both groups demonstrated a positive attitude toward MDR-TB.

Conclusion: The knowledge of MDR-TB was poor among the TB patients studied as well as among HCWs with low educational status. MDR-TB training program for both HCWs and patients need to be re-structured to allow for greater gain in MDR-TB knowledge among both groups, which in turn may help improve compliance and treatment outcomes among patients.