High School Students' Knowledge on Tuberculosis Prevention: A Quantitative Survey in Bhaktapur of Nepal

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis is a major disease worldwide. Low level of awareness, economic status, unemployment, and educational status is playing a vital role in causing tuberculosis in Nepal. The study was conducted to assess knowledge of preventive measures for tuberculosis among high school students at the Bhaktapur district of Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 192 high school students. Pretested semi-structured questionnaire was applied to collect data from randomly selected students. Ethical approval and consent were obtained before data collection. The data were analyzed using SPSS 20v and interpreted as frequency, percentage and measured knowledge level. Results: Among 192 participants, more than half (51%) were male. All the participants had heard about tuberculosis (TB), and 90.6% of the participants knew the meaning of tuberculosis. More than half (53.7%) of the participants told that smoking is the major risk factor for TB and 96.9% of participants agreed that TB is transmissible. Almost all (97.9%) participants expressed covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, keeping house with proper ventilation and sunlight as preventive methods of tuberculosis. Similarly, more than half (63.5%) of the participants supported avoiding being close to the TB patient as a preventive measure. More than half of the participants (59.4%) had inadequate knowledge of preventive TB practices. Conclusions: It is to be concluded that more than half of the high school students had inadequate knowledge of preventive measures of tuberculosis. It shows that there is a need for planning and implementation of the awareness program on tuberculosis in high school students.