Abstract
BackgroundThe number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in Norway is increasing due to immigration from countries with high TB prevalence and few studies have been conducted on general practitioners’ (GPs) knowledge of TB in low incidence countries. The main purpose of this study was to explore knowledge, attitudes and practices of TB among Norwegian GPs using a modified Knowledge Attitude Practice (KAP) survey template.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 30 questions was distributed by email using SurveyMonkey to GPs working in municipalities either with or without an asylum reception centre in Eastern Norway (GPwAS or GPw/oAS). The questionnaire assessed demographic data and had 14 questions on TB knowledge and 7 questions on attitudes and practices. Descriptive and inferential analysis of the data was carried out using SPSS 18.ResultsOne hundred ninety five GPs responded and 42% worked in a municipality with an asylum reception centre. There was no significant difference between the two GP groups in relation to demographic variables (all p-values > 0.2). GPwAS were more experienced in diagnosing TB patients compared to GPw/oAS (63.4% vs 44.2%, p = 0.008). There was no significant differences in participation in TB training between the two groups (8.5% vs 7.6%, p = 0.71). The majority of GPs (69%) did not consider TB as a major public health threat and misconceptions of TB epidemiology were identified. Overall, 97 (49.7%) GPs had good TB knowledge level and good TB knowledge level was associated with experience in diagnosing TB patients (p = 0.001) and recent TB training (p = 0.015).ConclusionGaps in TB knowledge and awareness among GPs in Norway need to be addressed if GPs are to be more involved in TB management and prevention in the future. TB training had an effect on the GPs knowledge level and GPwAS had more experience with TB patients but our survey revealed no major differences in KAP between GPwAS and GPw/oAS.
Highlights
The number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in Norway is increasing due to immigration from countries with high TB prevalence and few studies have been conducted on general practitioners’ (GPs) knowledge of TB in low incidence countries
Men represented 55% of the participants and age distribution showed that 35% of the GPs were less than 40 years old, 48% between the age 41–60 and 17% of the GPs were older than 60 years
The number of colleagues in the general practices was not accounted for in our study but the TB knowledge level might be influenced by the number of colleagues sharing their experience with TB cases [39]. This was the first cross-sectional survey assessing Knowledge Attitude Practice (KAP) on TB among GPs in Norway and will add to the limited numbers of studies performed in low incidence countries in Europe
Summary
The number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in Norway is increasing due to immigration from countries with high TB prevalence and few studies have been conducted on general practitioners’ (GPs) knowledge of TB in low incidence countries. The TB incidence rates have slowly declined since the year 2000 [1], but there are still major challenges associated with TB diagnosis, treatment success rate, patient compliance and multidrug--resistant tuberculosis (MDR--TB). In order to meet these challenges, the World Health Organization has suggested the goal of eliminating TB by 2050 [2, 3] where elimination of TB is defined as less than one TB case per million population per year. The majority of the European countries are low incidence countries, defined as less than 10 TB cases per one hundred thousand.
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