Abstract:

Objective To explore the intervention effect of WeChat health education on the knowledge, beliefs and behaviors of tuberculosis prevention and treatment in college freshmen. Methods A cluster random sampling method was adopted, and a total of 1121 freshmen from a university in Guangzhou in 2018 were selected as the survey objects. From September to October 2018, trained school doctors used the school’s WeChat official account to publish knowledge about tuberculosis prevention and treatment every week. A uniformly designed questionnaire was used to investigate the subjects before and after the intervention to investigate their knowledge, beliefs and behaviors related to tuberculosis prevention and treatment, and to evaluate the effect of the intervention. Results The total awareness rate of the core knowledge of tuberculosis prevention and treatment increased from 73.10% (4772/6528) before the intervention to 85.48% (5580/6528) after the intervention, the difference was statistically significant (χ²=304.510, P<0.01). After the intervention, the mastering the method of reducing the transmission of tuberculosis and being more caring about tuberculosis patients were both significantly better than before (80.61% (877/1088) vs. 94.49% (1028/1088), χ²=96.106, P<0.05; 35.29% (384/1088) vs. 40.17% (437/1088), χ²=5.495, P<0.05); the proportion of willingness of frequently opening windows and spreading knowledge of tuberculosis to others in daily life were also significantly increased (91.64% (997/1088) vs. 96.42% (1049/1088), χ²=22.122, P<0.01; 57.26% (623/1088) vs. 73.99% (805/1088), χ²=67.480, P<0.01). Conclusion Health education through WeChat mainly in college had significant effect, and could play an important role in increasing the awareness of students’ core knowledge of tuberculosis prevention and treatment, as well as promoting correct beliefs and behaviors, and developing healthy life habits.

Key words: WeChat, Tuberculosis, Students, Health education