Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Regarding Tuberculosis and Home-Based Treatment.

Objectives

To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and intended practices (KAP) of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients regarding the disease and home-based treatment.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted at the authors' hospital from 1 September 2024 to 28 February 2025, using a self-designed KAP questionnaire. Differences in KAP scores across demographic subgroups were analyzed, and the associations among knowledge, attitude, and practice were examined.

Results

A total of 509 valid responses were included (effective rate: 90.73%). Participants were predominantly male (56.6%) and rural residents (68.0%). Their mean (SD) knowledge, attitude, and intended practice scores were 26.20 (2.90) (possible range: 15-30), 32.09 (4.14) (possible range: 9-45), and 35.89 (5.57) (possible range: 8-40), respectively. Correlation analysis showed significant but relatively weak positive correlations between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.257, p < 0.001), knowledge and intended practice (r = 0.136, p = 0.002), and attitude and intended practice (r = 0.251, p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that knowledge score (OR = 1.098, p = 0.007) and attitude score (OR = 1.094, p < 0.001) were independently associated with better intended practice. Living in rural areas (OR = 0.633, p = 0.043) and being government/enterprise/public institution staff (OR = 0.386, p = 0.004) were independently associated with lower intended practice scores.

Conclusions

These findings highlight that higher levels of knowledge among PTB patients are positively associated with more favorable attitudes and better anticipated self-management practices. These associative findings generate the hypothesis that targeted educational interventions, especially among populations with lower education levels or non-urban backgrounds, might improve expected home-based treatment adherence, which warrants validation in future longitudinal studies.