HEALTH CARE PROVIDER’S KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PERCEIVED SKILLS ON DIAGNOSING TUBERCULOSIS USING TUBERCULOSIS SCORE CHART IN CHILDREN AGED 0-59 MONTHS IN DODOMA REGION

ABSTRACT

Background

T.B score chart is a major diagnostic measure for diagnosing T.B in children, even though T.B score chart used there is gradual increase of T.B case among children. The objective of the study was to assess health care provider‟s knowledge, attitude, and perceived skills on diagnosing tuberculosis using tuberculosis score chart in children aged 0-59 months Dodoma region.

Methods: Hospital-based analytical cross-sectional study was conducted between June and July 2020 in 11 health facilities at OPD, Padiatric clinics, RCH, and CTC in Dodoma. (n=217) health care providers who were recruited by convenient sampling and interrogated by using an interview self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed through SPSS (V26.0) to develop descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Graphs and tables are used to present the results of the analysis. Results: The study revealed that 43% (n=217) of the respondents had adequate knowledge, 42 %(n=217) positive attitude and 40%(n=217) perceived skills on diagnosing T.B using T.B score chart in children. Multivariate analysis indicated that knowledge and perceived skills of health care providers was not found significantly associated with any factor, while in attitude was found significant associated with age group age of respondents (AOR =2.742,at 95Cl ,1.305-5.760,P=0.008),educational level (AOR =0.373,at 95Cl, 0.162-0.862. P=0.021), training and source of information (AOR =2.825, at 95Cl, 1.158-6.892. P=0.022). Moreover attitude was influencing significant associated with the perceived skills of health care providers (AOR=0.0075, at 95Cl,0.031 -0, 0181, P=0.001). Conclusion: The knowledge, attitude and perceived skills of healthcare providers were generally unsatisfactory. The ministry of health and stakeholders should be collaborating, intervene for improvement in their institutions.