Factors associated with Community Health Agents’ knowledge about tuberculosis

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 110 ACS. A questionnaire was used to assess knowledge about pulmonary tuberculosis (component 1) and the work functions of ACS in the National Tuberculosis Control Program (component 2). The level of knowledge, according to the scores converted into a scale of 0 to 100, was classified as: 0-50% (low), 51-75% (medium), and over 75% (high). Multiple regression was used in the analysis of associated factors.

Results:

The global score (average of the scores of components 1 and 2) median knowledge was 68.6%. Overall knowledge about tuberculosis was positively associated with the length of professional experience, having received training on tuberculosis, and access to the tuberculosis guide/handbook.

Conclusions:

Investments in training and capacity-building strategies for ACS will contribute to increasing these professionals’ knowledge, resulting in greater success in tuberculosis control.

Descriptors:
Community Health Workers; Tuberculosis; Knowledge; Occupational Health; Occupational Exposure

Variables	β	IC 95%	β_p	t	p value
Global
Gender:
Male (Reference)
Female	1.26	-4.70; 7.20	0.04	0.42	0.676
Age (years)	-0.14	-0.35; 0.08	-0.12	-1.27	0.206
Years of Service (years)	2.43	0.29; 4.57	0.22	2.25	0.027
Training on Tuberculosis (TB):
No (Reference)
Yes	6.16	2.95; 9.37	0.34	3.81	<0.001
Access to the Guide:
No (Reference)
Yes	3.59	0.44; 6.74	0.20	2.26	0.026
Supervised DOT†:
No (Reference)
Yes	-0.87	-4.78; 3.03	-0.04	-0.45	0.657
Component 1
Gender:
Male (Reference)
Female	-0.51	-9.89; 8.86	-0.01	-0.11	0.914
Age (years)	-0.18	-0.49; 0.13	-0.10	-1.13	0.260
Years of Service (years)	4.63	1.57; 7.68	0.28	3.00	0.003
Component 1
Training on TB:
No (Reference)
Yes	9.62	4.87; 14.36	0.36	4.02	<0.001
Access to the Guide/Manual:
No (Reference)
Yes	5.64	0.38; 10.91	0.21	2.12	0.036
Supervised DOT†:
No (Reference)
Yes	1.55	-3.31; 6.40	0.05	0.63	0.530
Component 2
Gender:
Male (Reference)
Female	3.24	-3.27; 9.75	0.09	0.99	0.326
Age (years)	-0.06	-0.29; 0.15	-0.06	-0.59	0.555
Years of Service (years)	-0.53	-2.72; 1.67	-0.04	-0.48	0.634
Training on TB:
No (Reference)
Yes	3.48	0.18; 6.79	0.18	2.09	0.039
Access to the Guide:
No (Reference)
Yes	2.23	-1.36; 5.82	0.12	1.81	0.220

Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem SGA Norte Quadra 603 Conj. "B" - Av. L2 Norte 70830-102 Brasília, DF, Brasil, Tel.: (55 61) 3226-0653, Fax: (55 61) 3225-4473 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: reben@abennacional.org.br

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[1] Corresponding author: Anaclara Ferreira Veiga Tipple, E-mail: anaclara_tipple@ufg.br