A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Knowledge Regarding the Management of TB among the Patients attending Chest Clinic at RMMCH, Tamil Nadu, India

India has the highest burden of TB in the world, an estimated 2 million cases annually, accounting for approximately one fifth of the global incidence. It is estimated that about 40% of the Indian population is infected with TB^1,4.

To assess the existing knowledge regarding the management of TB among the patients attending Chest Clinic in RMMCH.

To evaluate the effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on the management of TB among the patients attending Chest Clinic in RMMCH.

To associate selected demographic variables with knowledge on the management of TB among the patients attending Chest Clinic in RMMCH.

Pre-experimental design was used to assess the effectiveness of structured-teaching programme on knowledge regarding management of TB at Chest Clinic at Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital, Annamalai University, Chidambaram. A total of 50 patients with TB were selected by using convenience sampling technique. The pretest was conducted using a structured-interview questionnaire. Structured Teaching Programme was conducted by using flash cards. Two weeks later a posttest was conducted by using the same structured-interview questionnaire.

The study revealed that all the 50 (100%) patients had inadequate knowledge in the pretest. After STP 23 (46%) patients had adequate knowledge and 27 (54%) patients had moderately adequate knowledge about TB. The paired “t” test was applied to compare pretest and posttest mean and standard deviation. It was found that knowledge level of the patients on management of TB was statistically significant (p<0.001).

This study demonstrated that STP on management of TB is effective in improving the knowledge level of patients with TB.