Abstract:

Objective To evaluate the effect of multi-form active health education on the awareness of the core knowledge of tuberculosis (TB) control among the elderly in rural areas.Methods This study was carried out during 2013-2014 with two baseline surveys combined with the annual physical examination project of basic public health services in Jiangyou City, Sichuan Province. Three rural towns in Jiangyou City (Chonghua Town, Houba Town, Erlangmiao Town) were selected by cluster random sampling method as investigation points, and various forms of public health education on TB was carried out from July 2013 to July 2014. Cross-sectional survey was used. Before the face-to-face household baseline survey and 1 year after the implementation of the intervention, the face-to-face inquiry survey was conducted among the permanent residents aged 65 or above by the unified designed questionnaire on the awareness rate of core knowledge of TB prevention and control used in the annual TB baseline survey to understand the awareness of core knowledge before and after the intervention.Results The total awareness rate of core knowledge on TB was increased by 44.35% after the implementation of the intervention ((54.66% (15727/28775) and 10.31% (3053/29640)) (χ ²=13168.16, P<0.001). After the intervention, the percentage of interviewee who provided correct answers for all core knowledge on TB (14.56%, 838/5755) increased by 13.01% (P<0.001) compared with that before intervention (1.55%, 92/5928)(χ ²=674.53, P<0.001). The total awareness rates of male before (12.14%, 1766/(2909×5)) and after intervention (56.95%, 7987/(2805×5)) were higher than those of female (8.53% (1287/(3019×5)) and 52.47% (7740/(2950×5))) (χ ²=104.81, P<0.05). Before and after the intervention, the awareness rate increased by 44.81%in males (χ ²=6375.64, P<0.001) and 43.94% in females (χ ²=6829.73, P<0.001). Conclusion The active health education can increase the awareness rate of TB core knowledge among the elderly aged ≥65 years old in rural areas, and promote and improve active TB detection in the elderly in rural areas. It is an indispensable and important means for the aged TB patients in rural areas to improve their awareness of TB prevention and control.

Key words: Tuberculosis, Rural population, Aged, Health education, Questionnaires, Outcome assessment (health care), Small-area analysis