Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in Tuberculosis Control
Summary
Tuberculosis (TB) control efforts hinge on an integrated understanding of community knowledge, prevailing attitudes and routine practices. Knowledge encompasses awareness of causative agents, modes of transmission and the importance of timely diagnosis. Attitudes reflect perceptions of severity, stigma and trust in health systems, which influence health-seeking behaviour. Practices range from infection-control measures to treatment adherence and engagement with preventive services. Socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, education and rural residency shape these dimensions, while cultural beliefs and media exposure mediate information uptake. Recent work underscores persistent misconceptions about TB’s bacterial origin, variable attitudes towards people with TB and uneven adoption of infection-control practices. Global initiatives now emphasise tailored health education, community engagement and monitoring of behavioural indicators to enhance early detection, reduce transmission and support adherence to therapy.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent nationwide surveys in India have revealed a narrowing overall awareness of TB transmission but a persistent gender gap among adolescents and rural populations. Although knowledge of airborne spread improved over a decade, young women in rural areas remain disproportionately uninformed about modes of transmission. Identified risk factors include younger age and unmarried status, prompting calls for gender-sensitive education strategies. Separately, statistical forecasting using integer time series models for African countries has provided decade-long projections of TB incidence. By fitting count-based models to two decades of surveillance data, researchers have generated regional forecasts through 2031 to guide resource allocation, inform public-health planning and evaluate the likely impact of interventions on future case burdens.
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in Tuberculosis Control publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in knowledge, attitudes, and practices in tuberculosis control across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP): A framework for assessing understanding, beliefs and behaviours related to health topics, used to inform targeted interventions.
Stigma: Negative social perceptions that lead to discrimination against individuals or groups affected by a disease, impeding access to care.
Cross-sectional survey: An observational study that analyses data from a population at a specific point in time to assess prevalence and associations.
Integer time series model: A statistical approach for modelling and forecasting count data, such as new TB case notifications, over sequential time points.
References
- Nationwide surveys of awareness of tuberculosis in India uncover a gender gap in tuberculosis awareness. Communications Medicine (2024).
- Integer time series models for tuberculosis in Africa. Scientific Reports (2023).
- Knowledge, attitude and practice towards tuberculosis among healthcare and non-healthcare students at a public university in Saudi Arabia. Frontiers in Public Health (2024).
- Framework of behavioral indicators evaluating TB health promotion outcomes: a modified Delphi study of TB policymakers and health workers. Infectious Diseases of Poverty (2015).
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to TB among the general population of Ethiopia: Findings from a national cross-sectional survey. PLOS ONE (2019).
- Knowledge, attitude and practice towards tuberculosis in Gambia: a nation-wide cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health (2020).
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