Lack of optimum practice among health care workers regarding tuberculosis in Iran: A knowledge, attitude, and practice study.
BACKGROUND
Lack of knowledge toward tuberculosis (TB) among health care workers (HCWs) increases the risk of developing TB. The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of HCWs in Iran.


METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional study in 50 universities of medical sciences throughout Iran. A questionnaire was developed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of participants. The values of Cronbach α coefficients for the knowledge and attitude questions were .76 and .75, respectively.


RESULTS
The mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice among TB laboratory staff regarding TB was 82.6 (95% confidence interval [CI], 82.0-83.7), 87.6 (95% CI, 87.1-88.0), and 57.9 (95% CI, 56.9-58.9), respectively. The mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice among non-TB laboratory staff regarding TB was 69.5 (95% CI, 67.9-71.1), 50.7 (95% CI, 50.1-51.4), and 40.82 (95% CI, 38.2-43.4), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
TB laboratory staff scored relatively well in knowledge and attitude of TB, but they scored lower in practice regarding TB. Non-TB laboratory staff had lower scores than TB laboratory staff in knowledge, attitude, and practice. There is a major gap between knowledge and attitude and practice in both groups. It is therefore essential to plan for the continuing in-service training of HCWs and public training of the general population regarding TB.
Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Amin
A
Doosti Irani
Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Research Center for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar Ahang, Hamadan, Iran.
Abdolrazagh
A
Hashemi Shahraki
Kurdistan Research Center for Social Determinants of Health, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
Ebrahim
E
Ghaderi
Disease Control Department, Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mahshid
M
Nasehi
Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Research Center for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar Ahang, Hamadan, Iran. Electronic address: mostafaviehsan@gmail.com.
Ehsan
E
Mostafavi
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012577:Schools, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
Attitude; Health care worker; Iran; Knowledge; Practice; Tuberculosis