Assessment of awareness of workers of the forensic medical service of the Republic of Tatarstan (bureau) about tuberculosis infection

Abstract

Introduction. Forensic workers are at high risk of contracting Koch's bacillus infection. Significant risk factors for infections are a high microbial load, increased traumatism, and the absence of lifetime medical records of tuberculosis in cadavers admitted for examination. In addition, sporadic cases of infection continue to be reported, necessitating measures to improve the prevention of personnel infection. In view of the above, there is a great need for research into the awareness of bureau personnel, on the basis of which preventive measures will be developed. Purpose of the study — to examine the awareness of bureau personnel about the main issues of tuberculosis infection, its prevention, ways of infection, diagnosis, and clinical manifestations. Materials and methods. The main method of research was an anonymous questionnaire survey of 262 employees of the Kazan bureau of the Republic of Tatarstan. The obtained data were counted on the service onlinetestpad, where the questionnaire was posted. Results. According to the results of the study, 12 employees (4.6%) out of those interviewed in the bureau had tuberculosis. Forty-three employees (16.4%) reported contact with a sick person at their place of work (training). A total of 147 respondents (56.1%) think that it is possible to get infected by a sick person; 39 respondents (14.9%) think that it is possible to get infected while doing professional duties. Some respondents did not consider important aspects in preventing the formation and spread of TB: a significant part of workers (96 workers, 36.6%) wash dirty work clothes at home by themselves and about the same number of respondents (95 workers, 36.3%) do not consider it important to change work clothes when moving from a "dirty" zone to a "clean" one and vice versa. Discussion. Positive results of the questionnaire were associated with a high degree of competence of the staff, dissemination of TB guidelines, training, and supervision by supervisory authorities. Conclusion. Based on the results, it was found that staff at the Bureau of Forensic Medicine are sufficiently informed about methods of specific and non-specific prevention of tuberculosis and have information about the modes of transmission. However, there is a lack of awareness among certain staff members on how to prevent the spread of tuberculosis infection.