Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is as old as mankind. In 2015, there were an estimated 10.4 million new (incident) TB cases worldwide. Despite progress and millions of lives saved, global actions and investments fall far short of those needed. There are studies which have documented a positive association between TB knowledge and care seeking and treatment adherence and hence the control of tuberculosis.
Material & Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among the attendants of the general patients attending the routine Out Patient Clinics of Block Hazratbal area of Kashmir. All the attendants accompanying the patients who were willing to participate in the study were interviewed by the investigator by a pre tested questionnaire.
Results: Only 37.8% knew that TB is caused by germs and just 15% knew about mode of transmission. Around 60% of respondents were aware of the signs and symptoms of Tuberculosis. Around 2/3rd of the respondents have heard about TB treatment but only 1/5th have heard about the programme. The major source of the knowledge regarding tuberculosis was Media (44.2%), followed by newspaper and relatives. The attitude of the respondents towards tuberculosis was very indifferent with 80% of them feeling that a case of tuberculosis should be isolated, stay away from social gatherings and quit the job.
Conclusion: The study revealed that there are gaps in the level of knowledge regarding TB among the respondents interviewed. The tendency to discriminate the patient was evident from the findings of this study. A lot needs to be done in increasing the awareness and knowledge of people about TB and thus stigma associated with TB can be allayed.
Key Words: Knowledge, Assessment, attitude, stigma, Srinagar, Kashmir.
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Corresponding Author
Taha Ayub
Senior Resident, Department of Community Medicine,
Government Medical College, Srinagar
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i8.13
