Investigating the effect of education on knowledge and practice in preventing tuberculosis in eastern Iran

Abstract

Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death and a decline in the quality of life and economic losses caused by single-agent infectious diseases in the world. This study was aimed at determining the effect of education on knowledge and practice of people referred to the urban health centers of Kashmar in preventing Tuberculosis (TB). In this interventional study, 90 people who were referred to the urban health centers of Kashmar from 2012 to 2013 were selected based on inclusion criteria. They were randomly divided into intervention (n = 45) and control (n = 45) groups. Data were collected by interview and observation questionnaires. The intervention group distributed in four sessions and received training in the prevention of TB. The reliability of the knowledge and practice measuring tool with an emphasis on the internal consistency of the instrument led to the inclusion of the Cronbach�s alpha coefficient 88. All gathered data from questionnaire and interview were analyzed. The mean of knowledge and practice in the intervention group before the study were 21.8 (4.4) and 6.4 (1.9), respectively. We found a statistically significant difference in knowledge and practice parameters in the interventional group before and after the intervention, P < 0.001 and 0.003, respectively. Conversely, in the control group, we found no statistically significant difference in parameters before and after study. Based on the findings, we conclude that education is effective in improving the levels of knowledge and practice of the individuals who participated in preventing tuberculosis. © 2019, © 2019 Institute of Health Promotion and Education