Knowledge of tuberculosis in a south Indian rural community, initially and after health education.

Thilakavathy Subramanian; Nirupa Charles; Rani Balasubramanian; Balambal, R.; Sundaram, V.; Sudha Ganapathy; Prabhakar, R.

Indian Journal of Tuberculosis; 1999; 46; 251-254.          

Summary : A study was undertaken in a south Indian rural community to assess the initial level of knowledge of tuberculosis (TB) and again after providing health education on TB, to evaluate the effectiveness of health education, after 2 years. A total of 466 respondents from 24 randomly selected villages in Sriperumbudur taluk, Tamil Nadu were interviewed. The community was then educated about the important aspects of tuberculosis by means of pamphlets, film shows, exhibitions, role plays and group discussions. After 2 years, the respondents were revisited and interviewed using the same interview schedule. There was an overall increase of knowledge on various aspects of TB, ranging from 18% to 58%.

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