A study to determine TB treatment supporters' knowledge on TB treatment and prevention in Lusaka urban district.

Abstract

Lusaka DHMT in conjunction with NGOs trained TB Treatment Supporters who observe TB clients at home when taking drugs especially those critically ill and those who stay far from the health facility. Thus, it was necessary to undertake the study in order to determine their knowledge on TB treatment and prevention because the level of knowledge can either influence their work positively or negatively. Literature was reviewed globally, regionally and nationally and generally revealed that compliance to TB treatment largely depends on DOTS implementation. TB Treatment Supporters help in the implementation of DOTS. However, of all the studies that were reviewed, no study looked at," determining TB Treatment Supporters' knowledge on TB treatment and prevention". Therefore, it was necessary to undertake this study in order to fill the gap. The study revealed that majority (76%) of the respondents were females. This could be attributed to the fact that there are more females than males in Zambia and also the fact that females are generally carers of the sick. Therefore, they are likely to join support groups that render care to the sick. On the other hand, those who are below 30 years may still be at school (occupied with school work) and dependant, while those above 49 years may be inactive (their work involves following clients in their homes) and not manage to walk long distances. Majority (70%) of the respondents had medium level of knowledge. This could be attributed to the fact that respondents acquired knowledge from a variety of sources despite their educational level. They acquired knowledge from other support groups such as home based care since some of them were also members.