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

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Health Behavior

Background:

• Improving tuberculosis (TB) patient knowledge is crucial for effective TB control.
• Enhanced patient understanding of TB can promote infection prevention and treatment adherence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate changes in TB knowledge and infection prevention behaviors throughout TB treatment.
• To identify factors influencing TB knowledge and behavior change.

Main Methods:

• A dataset of 6,031 TB patients and health workers was compiled in nine Indian cities (March 2013-September 2014).
• Patient knowledge and infection prevention behaviors were assessed at the beginning and end of TB treatment.

Main Results:

• Patients (n=3,424) showed moderate TB knowledge at treatment initiation; knowledge increased by 3.7% by treatment end.
• Literacy, education, and income were associated with higher TB knowledge.
• Infection prevention behaviors, such as covering coughs (63.4%) and sleeping separately (19.3%), were inconsistently adopted.
• Patient-health worker age difference and shared language predicted knowledge and adherence.

Conclusions:

• Social proximity between health workers and patients enhanced TB knowledge and prevention behavior adherence.
• Despite improvements, infection prevention behavior rates remain suboptimal, indicating a need for further intervention.