Nutrition knowledge, attitude, practice and assessment of nutritional status of tuberculosis patients attending selected DOTS clinics in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Nutritional status of tuberculosis (TB) patients largely influences treatment outcomes, thereby determining the success of tuberculosis control programmes.

Objective: The study is to assess the nutrition knowledge, attitude and practice and the nutritional status of TB patients attending selected DOTS clinics in Lagos State, South - west, Nigeria.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 diagnosed TB patients attending DOTS clinics in some state hospitals (secondary facilities) in Lagos State, using a pre-tested, semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Heamoglobin (Hb) and albumin levels were determined in about a quarter of the respondents. The data obtained from the questionnaire survey was analyzed using the Epi-info software version 3.5.1.

Results: Findings revealed that only one quarter (25%) of the respondents had good knowledge of nutrition, approximately 9 out of 10 (86.8%) of them had positive attitude towards proper nutrition and almost three quarters (71.8%) had good nutrition practices. Using the Body Mass Index (BMI), about one third (35%) of the respondents were undernourished with 47.1%, 27.1% and 25.7% of the under nourished TB patients having mild, moderate and severe under nutrition respectively.

Out of the quarter (100) respondents who had biochemical nutrition assessment, 43% were anaemic (Hb<12g/dl) and only 22% had hypoalbuminaemia. Explored factors influencing knowledge, attitude and practice of nutrition were: educational level of respondents which significantly (p=0.0006) influenced their knowledge of nutrition, attitude to nutrition was significantly influenced by employment status (p=0.004), household size (p=0.000) and knowledge (p=0.032). Nutritional practices were influenced by  educational level (p=0.04), household size (p=0.043) and attitude (p=0.021) to nutrition.

Conclusion: To effectively improve treatment outcomes of TB patients and reduce the burden of the disease, it is important to improve patients' knowledge, attitude and practice of good nutrition through nutrition education during therapy, provision of high nutrient supplements, ensuring regular availability of anti-TB drugs and compliance with treatment.

Keywords: Tuberculosis, Nutritional assessment, Knowledge, Attitude and Practice