Awareness regarding tuberculosis among adolescents of urban slums

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) has become a major public health problem affecting young adults leading to morbidity and mortality, despite TB control program being there for more than 30 years. Aims & Objectives: To assess the level of awareness among adolescents of urban slum population towards TB. Materials and Methods: This was a community based cross sectional study, conducted in the urban slums attached to a tertiary care hospital. The study was conducted among adolescents in age group of 13-19 years for three months in the urban slums using pre- designed and pre-tested format. Results: Knowledge regarding TB among 325 adolescents was assessed. Out of which 89.53% were aware that TB is transmitted by coughing. 86.77% of them opined that smokers are at maximum risk of developing the disease and 69.85% told that cough will be the commonest symptom. 77.46% opined that TB can be prevented by following coughing etiquettes. 89.23% of them opined that they will take the patient to allopathic doctor and will receive treatment from government hospitals. However, majority of them also told that TB patient should be isolated, which is not recommended now-a-days. Conclusion: Knowledge about acquiring and transmitting TB was found to be adequate but it was accompanied with some misconceptions. It was thus found imperative to dispel the myths and wrong notions about TB from minds and replace it with correct knowledge. To achieve this, there is a need to educate the adolescents, family members and community as a whole.