Knowledge, attitude and preventive behavior of Saudi women regarding tuberculosis at Tabuk City

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world that leads to more than 2 million deaths annually. Saudi Arabia is considered the third Arab country with a moderate prevalence of tuberculosis. Correct knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding tuberculosis in the community are essential for the effective functioning of control programs. Aim: to evaluate knowledge, attitude and preventive behavior of Saudi women regarding tuberculosis at Tabuk city. Design: Descriptive design was utilized to fulfill the aim of this study. Setting: the study was conducted at 5 five primary health centers at Tabuk city. Sample: a random sample of (396) out of (n=40000) all the registered women. Three tools of data collection were used; 1) self-administrated questionnaire sheet: It includes socio-demographic data, previous and current health history and knowledge assessment 2) modified likert scale: to assess attitude of women as regard to tuberculosis. 3) Practice items: to assess the preventive behaviors or practice of women regarding to tuberculosis. Results: The findings revealed that 69.2% % of women had poor knowledge and more than two thirds of them (73.5%) had positive attitude regarding tuberculosis and 65.4 % of them were satisfactory practices regarding tuberculosis. Conclusion: The majority of Saudi women in Tabuk city have poor knowledge, positive attitude and satisfactory practices regarding TB. Therefore, health education must be considered within the TB control program to improve knowledge, attitude and preventive behavior of TB.