TUBERCULOSIS AWARENESS AMONG THE GENERAL POPULATION OF TABOUK, KSA

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, it is a chronic systemic disease but mostly affects the lungs. Getting the world free from TB will not happen if general populations don’t aware about TB. Objective: The study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice towards Tuberculosis among the general populations in Tabouk city, Northern Saudi Arabia. Methods: This cross-sectional Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) study was conducted on teachers and parents of primary school students in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, from 1 March to 31 May 2019. Data were collected through personal interviews using a predesigned questionnaire, including all the relevant questions to address the study objectives. The questionnaire collected data on gender, relation to the child, educational level of the respondent, In addition, the questionnaire includes questions about items that guide us to knowledge, attitude and practice towards TB. Results: In total, 391 respondents comprised the study sample. Of the respondents, 56.5% of participants think it is caused by bacteria, 5.6% poor hygiene, 5.4% by soil and dust, 4.3% cold air, 4.1% by smoking, and 23.8% didn't know. 66.8% of participants said that sneezing and coughing cause transmission of infection, 22% didn't know what causes infection transmission, 5.9% shaking hands, and 5.1% eating from the same dish. About signs and symptoms of TB, 70.1% knew that fever is a symptom of TB, 81.6% reported cough with blood, 69.1% weight loss, 78.8% fatigue, and 68.5% cough more than two weeks. 41.9% of the respondents feel compassion and desire to help towards TB patients and 37.9% feel compassion but stay away from them. Most (70.1%) of the participants knew that fever is a symptom of TB, 81.6% reported cough with blood, 69.1% weight loss, 78.8% fatigue, and 68.5% cough more than two weeks. Also most (84.9%) of the respondents reported a preventable way of TB is to cover the nose and mouth during sneeze and coughing,. Most of the respondents76.7% know that TB can be cured, 73.9% know that vaccination is a way to prevent, 65.5% know that good nutrition is a way to prevention, 78.8% reported isolation of TB patient until he is cured. 55% know that Lack of treatment and failure to continue it leads to resistance to treatment. Conclusion: Populations in Tabouk have a good level of knowledge about the cause, mode of transmission and prevention of TB. There are few people who have wrong believes about TB. Also, about half of people have a good attitude towards TB patents. Most of the people know that TB can be cured vaccination and good are ways to prevent it and know that lack of treatment and failure to continue it leads to resistance to treatment. Key-words: Tuberculosis, knowledge, attitude, practice, general population, Tabuk, Saudi Arabi