Study of Knowledge and Practice of Sputum Disposal among TB Patients of Ahmedabad City

Background: India is the highest Tuberculosis (TB) burden country as per WHO statistics for 2010. As the source of infection is an open (sputum positive) case of pulmonary tuberculosis spreading by airborne particles, patients must have adequate knowledge regarding mode of spread, hazards of indiscriminate sputum disposal etc. Objectives: 1)To assess Knowledge of TB patients about spread of TB and hazards of indiscriminate sputum disposal 2)To assess Practice of sputum disposal followed by TB patients 3)To correlate various factors with knowledge and practice of sputum disposal. Methodology: A Cross sectional study was carried out among patients in TB clinics using a field-tested questionnaire among 100 TB patients attending two Municipal Corporation run TB clinics over the period of three months. Results: Only 28% patients knew about mode of spread of Pulmonary TB. Practice of sputum disposal was not associated with gender and educational level. Care taken while coughing was the only practice which was significantly associated with level of education (p=0.0069). Those who had better knowledge of TB spread had better practice of sputum disposal (p=0.0012). Knowledge about spread of TB and care taken while coughing was significantly associated (p=0.0003). Knowledge about hazards of indiscriminate spitting and care taken while coughing was significantly associated (p=0.0001). Conclusions: Awareness of patients regarding spread of TB, proper sputum disposal need to be improved. The patients should be explained the necessity of complete treatment. With vigorous & repeated counselling and guidance, knowledge and practice of sputum disposal can be improved even in patients with lower education level