Abstract: Objective To analyze the awareness rate of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) among the rural residents of Yunnan province and its influencing factors, and to provide scientific evidence for further improvement of tuberculosis (TB) prevention education and health promotion.Methods An awareness rate survey of 9305 residents who were over 15 years old in 6 sites of the fifth national tuberculosis epidemiological survey in Yunnan was conducted from April to June 2010. There were 4613 (49.6%) male and 4692 (50.4%) female. The contents of the survey covered the basic information of patients (gender, age and nationality) and 5 key TB messages. SPSS 17.0 statistical software was applied to analyze the score of awareness on key TB messages. Univariate analysis was used to analyze the score of awareness on key TB messages with different genders, ages, nationalities, histories of tuberculosis, per capita income of rural residents. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted by taking key TB messages score as the dependent variable and taking gender, age, nationality, history of tuberculosis and the per capita income of rural residents as independent variables.Results The general awareness rate of all 5 key messages in the rural areas of Yunnan province was 43.45% (20217/46525). The average scores of awareness for male and female were (4.686±3.387) and (4.010±3.429) respectively, with the difference of statistical significance (t=9.567, P<0.05). The scores of 15-, 25-, 35-, 45-, 55- and 65- age groups were (5.421±3.246), (5.106±3.270), (4.737±3.399), (4.038±3.353), (3.962±3.350) and (2.666±3.234) respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (F=120.625, P<0.05). The scores of the Han nationality, the Zhuang nationality, the Yi nationality and others were (4.254±3.407), (4.102±3.277), (5.324±3.639) and (3.897±3.086), and the difference was statistically significant (F=36.518, P<0.05). The scores of those with TB history, without TB history and those had no idea were (5.952±3.124), (4.420±3.420) and (2.053±2.648), with statistical significance (F=102.111, P<0.05). The scores of those with different per capita net income of rural residents (less than 2000 yuan, 2000 yuan- and 3000 yuan) were (3.011±2.959), (3.944±3.125) and (5.905±3.475), the diffe-rence was statistically significant (F=663.706, P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the factors influencing key TB messages score included rural per capita net income, age, gender, with TB history and the Han nationality (t values were 39.003, －28.161, －9.588, 9.381 and 4.361 respectively, P<0.05).Conclusion The awareness rate of key TB messages among the rural areas of Yunnan province is low, the influencing factors include rural per capita net income, gender, age, history of TB and the Han nationality.