ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS WITH RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS AND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE MODE OF TUBERCULOSIS TRANSMISSION

Ráez-Herrera R.; Hurtado Guerra C.; Abanto Mayta B.; Romaní F. · Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana (2025) · DOI: 10.25176/rfmh.v25i3.6980

Resumen

Introduction: Individuals with respiratory symptoms are potential transmitters of tuberculosis (TB). However, it has not been studied whether this condition is associated with knowledge about the modes of TB transmission. Objective: To evaluate the association between respiratory symptoms and knowledge of TB transmission in Peruvians aged ≥15 years. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the 2022 Demographic and Family Health Survey (ENDES, by its Spanish acronym). Individuals with respiratory symptoms were defined as those with cough and sputum lasting ≥15 days (independent variable). Knowledge about TB transmission was the dependent variable and was assessed with four questions addressing different routes of contagion: close contact while coughing, speaking, physical contact between a sick and a healthy person, and sharing food or utensils with a sick person. The association was analyzed using negative binomial regression with log link, and prevalence ratios (PRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. Results: A total of 29, 565 participants were included, of whom 1.6% had respiratory symptoms. Having respiratory symptoms was positively associated with knowledge that TB is transmitted by coughing (aPR=1.04; 95% CI: 1.01-1.08) or by close conversation (aPR=1.07; 95% CI: 1.02-1.12). Nevertheless, an inverse association was found with knowing that TB is not transmitted through physical contact (aPR=0.88; 95% CI: 0.79-0.99). Conclusion: Individuals with respiratory symptoms had greater knowledge about airborne transmission of TB (coughing and speaking), although misconceptions regarding other transmission routes persist. © It is an open access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is duly cited.

Instituciones: Universidad de Piura