title: Concerns about the knowledge and attitude of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis among health care workers and patients in Delta State, Nigeria.
abstract: Inadequate knowledge and wrong perception of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) by Health Care Workers (HCWs) and patients are detrimental to tuberculosis control programs.
  
  
  
  The aim was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of HCWs and TB patients about MDR-TB in Delta State, Nigeria.
  
  
  
  A cross-sectional study was carried out among HCWs and TB patients in Delta State, Nigeria. Data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.
  
  
  
  Ninety-six HCWs and 114 TB patients were studied. The HCWs (mean age 43.0 ± 10.1 years) were older than the patients (mean age 41.7 ± 16.9 years). A higher proportion (54.2%) of HCWs had tertiary education, but only 15% of the patients had above secondary education. Eight (8.3%) HCWs and majority (60.5%) of the patients had no knowledge about of MDR-TB. Only 18.4% of patients compared to 61.5% of HCWs had good knowledge of MDR-TB. Both groups demonstrated a positive attitude toward MDR-TB.
  
  
  
  The knowledge of MDR-TB was poor among the TB patients studied as well as among HCWs with low educational status. MDR-TB training program for both HCWs and patients need to be re-structured to allow for greater gain in MDR-TB knowledge among both groups, which in turn may help improve compliance and treatment outcomes among patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, University of Benin, P.M.B. 1154, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Isara
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akpodiete
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000628:therapy; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant; D055815:Young Adult