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Multicenter Study
. 2018 Oct 30;13(10):e0206245.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206245. eCollection 2018.

Knowledge about tuberculosis and infection prevention behavior: A nine city longitudinal study from India

Sophie Huddart  1   2 , Thomas Bossuroy  3 , Vincent Pons  4 , Siddhartha Baral  5 , Madhukar Pai  1   2 , Clara Delavallade  3
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Knowledge about tuberculosis and infection prevention behavior: A nine city longitudinal study from India

Sophie Huddart et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Improving patients' tuberculosis (TB) knowledge is a salient component of TB control strategies. Patient knowledge of TB may encourage infection prevention behaviors and improve treatment adherence. The purpose of this study is to examine how TB knowledge and infection prevention behaviors change over the course of treatment.

Methods: A matched patient-health worker dataset (n = 6,031) of publicly treated TB patients with NGO-provided treatment support health workers was compiled in nine Indian cities from March 2013 to September 2014. At the beginning and end of TB treatment, patients were asked about their knowledge of TB symptoms, transmission, and treatment and infection prevention behaviors.

Results: Patients beginning TB treatment (n = 3,424) demonstrated moderate knowledge of TB; 52.5% (50.8%, 54.2%) knew that cough was a symptom of TB and 67.2% (65.6%, 68.7%) knew that TB was communicable. Overall patient knowledge was significantly associated with literacy, education, and income, and was higher at the end of treatment than at the beginning (3.7%, CI: 3.02%, 4.47%). Infection prevention behaviors like covering a cough (63.4%, CI: 61.2%, 65.0%) and sleeping separately (19.3%, CI: 18.0%, 20.7%) were less prevalent. The age difference between patient and health worker as well as a shared language significantly predicted patient knowledge and adherence to infection prevention behaviors.

Conclusions: Social proximity between health worker and patients predicted greater knowledge and adherence to infection prevention behaviors but the latter rate remains undesirably low.

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Conflict of interest statement

SH, TB, VP, SB and CD have no conflicts of interest to declare. MP has no financial conflicts. He serves as a consultant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and on the Scientific Advisory Committee of FIND, Geneva. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

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