Abstract:

Objective: To analyze the effects of tuberculosis (TB) health education on the knowledge, belief and behavior of TB prevention and control among Chinese college students, and to provide evidence for further improving the effect of school health education on TB. Methods: Stratified cluster sampling method was used to sample college students, a self-designed questionnaire was used to investigate college students in the first and second grades. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze differences in the acceptance rate of TB health education among college students. Results: A total of 18438 questionnaire were collected, and 17491 pieces of valid questionnaire were retrieved, with an effective rate of 94.86% (17491/18438). The total awareness rate of core knowledge of TB was 82.20% (115019/139928), and 82.99% (14516/17491) of the students had received health education on TB among whom the total awareness rate of the core knowledge of TB (83.62%, 97111/116128) was higher than that of the college students who had not received TB health education (75.24%, 17908/23800). However, among the college students who had received TB health education, the awareness rates of “TB is a chronic infectious disease”, “The vast majority of TB patients can be cured” and “Opening windows and ventilation are conducive to preventing the spread of TB bacteria” were generally low which were 54.59% (7924/14516), 76.77% (11144/14516) and 77.24% (11212/14516), respectively. The college students who had received TB health education had a better belief in TB prevention and control compared with those who had not. However, even for those who had received TB health education, the number of students who thought they might be at risk of TB was generally lower, accounting for only 48.44% (7032/14516). Compared with those who had not received TB health education, students who had received TB health education had better TB health behaviors, such as not smoking (95.12% (13807/14516) vs. 93.08% (2769/2975)), cough or sneeze with elbow/tissue covering nose and mouth ((98.73% (14332/14516) vs. 96.77% (2879/2975)), don’t stay up late (35.09% (5093/14516) vs. 25.92% (771/2975)). However, among them, students who often stayed up late and had insufficient sleep time were still common, accounting for 64.91% (9423/14516) and 54.99% (7983/14516) respectively. The acceptance of TB health education in college students was related to gender, major and contact history of TB patients. Female college students (OR=1.20, 95%CI: 1.10-1.30), medical college students (OR=1.57, 95%CI: 1.37-1.77) and college students who had no contact with TB patients (OR=1.33, 95%CI: 1.23-1.43) received TB health education better. Conclusion: TB health education can effectively improve the knowledge, belief and behavior of Chinese college students, but there are still shortcomings. It is necessary to further strengthen the targeted health education for male students and non-medical students.

Key words: Tuberculosis, Students, Health knowledge, attitudes, practice, Factor analysis, statistical