Knowledge and attitudes towards tuberculosis among the people living in Kudat District, Sabah

A multistage random sampling method was used to select the community sample in the district of Kudat, Sabah. A total of 205 respondents from 210 selected houses were interviewed using a standardised questionnaire to ascertain their knowledge and attitude towards tuberculosis. Generally the knowledge about tuberculosis was poor. The well known symptoms that the respondents knew were coughing blood (46.2%), cough (37.1%), loss of weight (34.5%), and loss of appetite (32.0%). Only 51% thought that the disease was caused by germs and it was transmitted by air. TB sufferers were thought to be dirty (22%) and the majority (51%) were not keen to mix with TB patients. Although more than 90% of the respondents considered TB as socially acceptable within their family and community, a large proportion (41%) expressed that getting TB was embarrassing, 4% said it was a disgrace to the family, and 16% said that it was too sensitive to discuss about it. These behaviours suggest that at the private level, the respondents were still perceived negative social attitudes towards tuberculosis.