KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF RESIDENTS OF EGBEDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE TOWARDS TUBERCULOSIS

Abstract

This study assessed knowledge, attitude and practice of residents of Egbeda Local Government
Area, Oyo State towards tuberculosis. The purpose of this study was to assess whether (i) residents of
Egbeda LGA have knowledge of causes of; (ii) mode of transmission of TB; determine their (iii)
attitude towards preventive measures of and (iv) their practice towards control measures of TB.
Descriptive research design of the survey type was adopted for this study. The population for the
study comprised all residents of Egbeda LGA, Oyo State. Simple random and purposive sampling
techniques were used to select 179 respondents (18 years and above). The questionnaire used was
validated by 3 experts from the field of health education. A reliability co-efficient of r=0.72 was
obtained through test re-test method. Data was collected by the researchers with seven trained
research assistants. The four postulated hypotheses were tested using inferential statistics of Chi-
square at 0.05 alpha level. The study concluded that, the residents of Egbeda LGA have knowledge
of the causes and mode of transmission of TB; had positive attitude towards its prevention and were
familiar with its control measures. The study therefore recommended that, members of public should
abstain from smoking, overcrowding and malnutrition as it is commonly said that prevention is
better than cure. Also, health workers are advised to intensify their effort in giving health education
to the public on the prevention and control of TB.