The characteristics of occupational tuberculosis risk in healthcare workers

Tuberculosis (TB) remains to be one of the most common causes of morbidity worldwide, but the discourse of its prevention has disproportionately singled out the occupational risks that affect healthcare workers. In this research, we aimed to: (1) investigate the underlying factor structure of Risk Characteristics (RC), specifically the risk of nosocomial TB transmission in health care facilities; (2) estimate the effects of work-related determinants and RC on risk perception; and (3) compare occupational risk perception of contracting TB with expert risk assessment.

A paper-based questionnaire was administered to 179 health care workers (HCWs) working at 10 public health centres and two hospitals in Surabaya, Indonesia. We analysed our data using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to unravel the latent structure of RC and structural equation modelling (SEM) to identify determinants of risk perceptions.

EFA revealed a two-factor solution for nine qualitative RC: controllability of damage and knowledge-evoked dread. Our SEM analysis found evidence that the controllability aspect of the TB risk was a more profound determinant in predicting risk perception than knowledge-evoked dread, implying that HCWs might benefit from training aims to increase their beliefs on the controllability of TB risk despite its severity.

Although further research is necessary, our study highlights the importance of addressing occupational risk perceptions in health facilities, encouraging HCWs to become more active in advocating for the necessary allocation of resources for their workplaces, and raising communities' awareness of TB transmissions.