ISSN: 2161-1165

Epidemiology: Open Access
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  • Research Article   
  • Epidemiology (sunnyvale) 2014, Vol 4(4): 175
  • DOI: 10.4172/2161-1165.1000175

Levels of TB Knowledge among Primary Healthcare Workers in Ntcheu District, Malawi

Rhoda P. Banda1, Isaac Singini2, Simon Sikwese3, Ronex Nkhata4, Madalitso Mmanga4, Hastings Banda5, Kuzani Mbendera1, Tobias Chirwa6, Bagrey Ngwira7 and Peter S Nyasulu6,8*
1Ministry of Health, National Tuberculosis Control Programme, , Lilongwe, Malawi
2Johns Hopkins Research Project, , Blantyre, Malawi
3Pakachere Institute of Health and Development Communication, , Blantyre, Malawi
4Ministry of Health, Ntcheu District Hospital, , Ntcheu, Malawi
5Research for Equity and Community Health (REACH) Trust, , Lilongwe, Malawi
6Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
7Department of Community Health, College of Medicine, , Blantyre, Malawi
8Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, , Monash, South Africa
*Corresponding Author : Peter S Nyasulu, Department of Public Health, School of Health Sciences, Monash South Africa, Ruimsig, South Africa, Tel: +27119704287, Email: peter.nyasulu@monash.edu

Received Date: Sep 06, 2014 / Accepted Date: Sep 22, 2014 / Published Date: Sep 29, 2014

Abstract

Background: Lack of knowledge may contribute to ineffective Tuberculosis Control at Peripheral health service level. It is therefore important for policy makers to know whether health care workers at this level have adequate knowledge on TB Control. We aimed to measure the level of knowledge among health care workers who participated in a one week refresher tuberculosis training programme.

Methods: A cross sectional study design assessing knowledge of Tuberculosis among peripheral health care workers was done. A pre-test was administered at the beginning of the course followed by a training course. A post-test was then administered at the end of the training course and we used exactly the same questions as the pre-test so as to measure the level of knowledge.

Results: Clinicians scored significantly higher than environmental health workers. Environmental Health workers with tertiary level of education scored higher than those with primary and secondary level education(62.9% versus 26%) p= 0.0017 while as for Medical Assistants the difference between tertiary and secondary level was significant only in the pre-test score (62.9% versus 26%) p= 0.0017 with no significant difference on the post-test results (78% versus 80%) p=0.55.

Conclusion: TB knowledge among medical assistants and environmental health officers was comparatively low. This call for the need to closely supervise and provide on the job training for this cadre of health care workers by the head of the District Health Office. Adequate knowledge will enhance effective TB management and control.

Keywords: Tuberculosis; Health worker; Primary health care; Knowledge

Citation: Banda RP, Singini I, Sikwese S, Nkhata R, Mmanga M, et al. (2014) Levels of TB Knowledge among Primary Healthcare Workers in Ntcheu District, Malawi. Epidemiology (Sunnyvale) 4:175. Doi: 10.4172/2161-1165.1000175

Copyright: © 2014 Banda RP, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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