Knowledge about tuberculosis among public transportation users in Santiago de Cali, Colombia, 2017

Abstract

Knowledge about Tuberculosis (TB) is limited among the general population of Cali, the second city in Colombia with the highest burden of TB. Here, we sought to determine the level of knowledge about TB among users of the public transportation system of the city. We conducted a cross-sectional study using a structured questionnaire to collect information in 12 main stations of the transport system. Data were collected in a working day of March 2017. Out of 193 interviewed users, 80% answered to have limited knowledge about TB. However, most of the participants identified coughing as a symptom of TB (74.6%) and recognized that TB is a contagious disease (75.1%) that could be transmitted by the air (61.7%). Seventy percent of participants knew that TB is a curable disease. On the other hand, there were misconceptions regarding TB transmission and the identification of other classical symptoms of TB was limited. Understanding the level of knowledge about TB among the general population is key to design communicative and educational strategies to control and prevent this disease.