Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Primary Health Care Providers on Children Tuberculosis Control in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria is one of the 30 high tuberculosis burden countries globally. Childhood tuberculosis has been identified as a hidden
epidemic with a large proportion of the cases remaining undetected. For many years, tuberculosis control programmes have
focused on adults, programmes and studies specific to childhood tuberculosis should be prioritized. Healthcare providers are
frontline workers fighting against tuberculosis, their knowledge, attitude, and practices are essential to tuberculosis control. This
study assessed knowledge, attitude and practice on prevention and control of childhood tuberculosis in selected primary health
care (PHC) centres in three Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. A cross-sectional design was
employed in the study. A total of 270 participants were selected using multistage sampling technique. A semi-structured
questionnaire was used to collect data which were analysed and presented in percentages. Association between variables were
tested with chi-square and Fisher’s exact test at 0.05 level of significance. Overall, 215 (79.65) of the participants were female,
125 (46.3%) were nurses/midwives, only 27 (10%) ever attended a training on tuberculosis in the preceding 12 months. Sixtynine (25.6%) had good knowledge, 46 (17%) had positive attitude, while 74 (27.4%) had good practice of childhood tuberculosis
prevention and control. Good knowledge was found to have significant association with good practice among the participants
(P=0.000). The study revealed poor knowledge, attitude and practice towards childhood tuberculosis prevention and control
among PHC providers in selected centres in Ibadan, Nigeria. Training and re-training of PHC providers on tuberculosis is
recommended at grassroot level.