Knowledge of the Students Regarding Pulmonary Tuberculosis at a Selected Tertiary Institution in Vhembe District of Limpopo Province

Abstract

Background: Although Tuberculosis can be prevented and treated, it is infecting millions of people around the world. Tuberculosis is an infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis which attacks the lungs as well as other parts of the body. It can be dormant and active. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge of tertiary institution students about pulmonary tuberculosis. Methodology: The study adopted a quantitative approach and a descriptive design of the cross-sectional survey. A simple random sampling method was used to select respondents. The on-campus’ respondents’ total population was 8197. The data was analysed using version 26.0 of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) knowledge was assessed and analysed using a self-administered questionnaire. A Spearman’s rank-order correlation was run to determine the relationship between the education and the knowledge of TB among the respondents. Results: The results of this study revealed that students have basic knowledge regarding PTB in one hand, while at the other hand there is insufficient knowledge regarding the causes of PTB among students at the selected tertiary institution. Further, the findings also revealed that there is moderate positive correlation between education and knowledge of PTB among students. Conclusion: Univen should develop more effective PTB control strategies for better implementation of the Global STOP TB strategy and the NSP to achieve the fight against TB to the large extent by 2030 as stated also in the NDP and SDGs. Recommendations: Need for future studies on PTB that will assess the relationship between the ages, gender and level of year of students. Univen should increase the level of knowledge of TB treatment, risk factors, spitting techniques to avoid the spread of PTB and tests to diagnose PTB, through educational programmes based on the findings of this study.