Abstract:

Objective To investigate the status of tuberculosis screening and core knowledge awareness among the elderly in elderly care institutions. Methods By cluster random sampling, four elderly care institutions were selected from Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Qingyuan in Guangdong Province from October 2019 to December 2020, including two public and two private institutions. A total of 178 subjects admitted to elderly care institutions without blurred consciousness or related major diseases were enrolled in this study, all of them aged ≥60 years, could communicate normally, and received tuberculosis screening and questionnaire survey. Questionnaires were used to collect sociodemographic information, suspicious symptoms of tuberculosis, history, physical examination, and awareness of tuberculosis prevention and control knowledge. Symptom screening and chest X-ray were used for tuberculosis screening, and tuberculosis was confirmed or excluded by sputum smear and culture, GeneXpert MTB/RIF and chest CT for those with suspicious symptoms of tuberculosis or abnormal shadow on chest X-ray. The health status, physical examination status, tuberculosis screening status and knowledge of core knowledge of tuberculosis prevention and treatment were analyzed. Results Among the 178 subjects, one case was diagnosed as active pulmonary tuberculosis (positive in etiology), and the prevalence of active pulmonary tuberculosis was 561.80/100000; 85.39% (152/178) had chronic diseases. Among the 142 people who underwent physical examination in the past year, the proportion of chest X-ray examination was 33.80% (48/142). The proportion of chest X-ray examination of private elderly care institutions (60.61%, 20/33) was significantly higher than that of public elderly care institutions (25.69%, 28/109) (χ²=13.803, P<0.001). The total awareness rate of core knowledge of tuberculosis prevention and treatment was 43.35% (463/1068). The total awareness rate of private elderly care institutions (53.88%, 139/258) was significantly higher than that of public elderly care institutions (40.00%, 324/810) (χ²=15.341, P<0.001). Conclusion The prevalence of active tuberculosis among the elderly in elderly care institutions was high, and the tuberculosis screening rate and core knowledge of prevention and control were low. Therefore, the elderly in elderly care institutions should be regarded as the key population of tuberculosis prevention and control, health education should be carried out continuously and effectively, and active tuberculosis screening should be carried out regularly, to detect pulmonary tuberculosis patients early.

Key words: Tuberculosis,pulmonary, Aged, Questionnaires, Health knowledge