A study of knowledge, attitude and health behavior toward tuberculosis among non-immigrant Korean people in Japan

Abstract

Knowledge, attitude and health behavior toward tuberculosis among Non-immigrant Korean people in Japan was researched by using questionnaire because of increasing the number of the tuberculosis patients among those group. The Korean member of protestant churches in Tokyo were subjects for the survey. Immigrant Korean people and their descendants were excluded. The questionnaire form was written in Korean language under the guidance of native Korean tuberculosis specialists. Proportion of Response was 53.1%, or 251 among 473 from 10th January to 30th June in 1992. The knowledge of tuberculosis among them was revealed to be higher than among ordinary native Korean people. It was different statistically by generation, namely, younger subjects aged less than 40 years old tended to answer that tuberculosis was a minor illness. The mass screening system in Japan was well known by the subjects, as shown by the fact that 72.4% of them answered that they knew about it. But only 56.6% of them replied that they actually took the mass screening. The source of its information was different statistically by sex, occupation, and generation. As for their health behavior, nearly two third (63.7%) of them visited the hospital or dispensary quickly when they fell sick. A small number of them answered that they could not visit a doctor because of their problems with the Japanese language. More than 80% of them possessed a National Health Insurance certificate. This proportion varied according to the period of stay in Japan. That is to say, The group which stayed in Japan less than one year was significantly the lowest because they were limited in their ability to enter National Health Insurance.