The level of population awareness about tuberculosis according to the results of the questionnaire

Abstract

Materials and methods. 152 people, mostly young and middle-aged, of whom 71% were female and 29% were male, were interviewed using a questionnaire prepared by us, which contained 28 questions that detailed the respondent's knowledge about tuberculosis. Research methods: bibliosemantic, sociological, analytical, statistical. Results. The results of the survey showed a good level of public awareness of tuberculosis. 50.7% of respondents believe that there is currently a tuberculosis epidemic in Ukraine, and 53.9% believe that this disease has accompanied humanity since ancient times. 88.2% of respondents named cough as the main symptom of the disease, more than half also named other clinical manifestations. 84.2% of respondents correctly named the causative agent of tuberculosis, and 90% know that anyone can get sick. 42% of respondents believe that any form of tuberculosis is contagious, 53% believe that only pulmonary tuberculosis is contagious. 92.1% of respondents know that tuberculosis can most often be infected by airborne droplets in places where there are many people and closed premises, or where there are sick people who cough and sneeze, etc. 89.5% call this disease dangerous for everyone, but only 6.6% believe that people from the risk group get sick more often. According to the survey, 63% of the respondents take care of their health and undergo physical examination once a year. 70% of respondents answered correctly about the BCG vaccine. Conclusions. The conducted research shows that the sanitary and educational work of doctors, and first of all phthisis doctors, is not quite sufficient in informing the population about the main problems of tuberculosis, which needs to be strengthened.