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Review
. 2016 Nov;23(6):25-34.
doi: 10.21315/mjms2016.23.6.3. Epub 2016 Dec 7.

Updates on Knowledge, Attitude and Preventive Practices on Tuberculosis among Healthcare Workers

Farhanah Abd Wahab  1 , Sarimah Abdullah  1 , Jafri Malin Abdullah  2 , Hasnan Jaafar  3 , Siti Suraiya Md Noor  4 , Wan Mohd Zahiruddin Wan Mohammad  5 , Abdul Aziz Mohamed Yusoff  6 , John Tharakan  6 , Shalini Bhaskar  7 , Muthuraju Sangu  6 , Mohd Shah Mahmood  8 , Fauziah Kassim  9 , Md Hanip Rafia  10 , Mohammed Safari Mohammed Haspani  11 , Azmi Alias  11 , Rogelio Hernández Pando  12
Affiliations
Review

Updates on Knowledge, Attitude and Preventive Practices on Tuberculosis among Healthcare Workers

Farhanah Abd Wahab et al. Malays J Med Sci. 2016 Nov.

Abstract

Ranking as the most communicable disease killer worldwide, tuberculosis, has accounted with a total of 9.6 million new tuberculosis cases with 1.5 million tuberculosis-related deaths reported globally in 2014. Tuberculosis has remain as an occupational hazard for healthcare workers since 1920s and due to several tuberculosis outbreaks in healthcare settings in the early 1990s, the concern about the transmission to both patients and healthcare workers has been raised. Healthcare workers have two to three folds greater the risk of active tuberculosis than the general population. Several studies on knowledge, attitude and practices on tuberculosis among healthcare workers worldwide have revealed that majority of the participated healthcare workers had good knowledge on tuberculosis. Most of the healthcare workers from South India and South Africa also reported to have positive attitude whereas a study in Thailand reported that most of the healthcare providers have negative attitude towards tuberculosis patients. Nevertheless, majority of the healthcare workers have low level of practice on tuberculosis prevention. An improved communication between healthcare workers and the patients as well as their families is the key to better therapeutic outcomes with good knowledge, attitude and preventive practice towards tuberculosis.

Keywords: attitudes; health knowledge; healthcare; practice; tuberculosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Global estimated TB incidence rates for year 2014 (Source: Global TB Report 2015 (3))
Figure 2
Figure 2
Global trends in estimated rates of TB incidence (1990–2014) and prevalence and mortality rates (1990–2015) (Source: Global TB Report 2015 (3))
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. World Health Organization. The global plan to stop TB. 2015a. Retrieved January 5th, 2015, from http://stoptb.org/global/plan/default.asp.

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