Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) constitutes a significant public health emergency globally because of its frequency, contagiousness, and economic weight. Progress in the management and control of the disease mainly requires the evaluation of epidemiological parameters. The present study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, and preventive practice toward TB.
Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study directed to general populations. It was conducted using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was first developed in the English language and then translated to Amharic (local language). The survey included two sections, the first section included the responders’ demographics, and the second section included questions about the knowledge, attitude, and behaviors regarding the pulmonary TB disease. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used for data processing.
Results: A total of 301 participants responded to this survey. Ninety percentage of the responders had previous knowledge about TB. In addition, 21.9% had their information from healthcare professionals, while only 8.6% had attended awareness campaigns on TB. Additionally, 50.2% did not know if TB is dangerous in Jeddah or not, and 48.8% did not hear any warning about TB previously. As for the population’s knowledge and attitude, the mean score for knowledge and attitude were 5.69 ± 2.16 and 1.7 ± 0.9, respectively. Both scores were below average. Factors affecting knowledge were increasing age, higher educational level, marital status, place of residence, knowing a patient with TB, previous knowledge about TB and attending awareness sessions on TB while factors affecting attitude were marital status, knowing a patient with TB and attending awareness sessions on TB.
Conclusion: Knowledge and attitude of the Saudi population toward TB is unsatisfactory and below the average level. Further efforts are required to improve this level of knowledge. Similar studies are needed in other areas in Saudi Arabia.

Key words: Tuberculosis, TB, Saudi Arabia, General population.