India has been engaged in Tuberculosis control
activities for more than 50 years as India is the highest
TB burdened country in the world. One such initiative
is Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme
(RNTCP) which has been rechristened as National
Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP). The
change in name is in line with the larger goal of
eliminating the disease by 2025.
Objective:
The aim of this cross-sectional study is to assess the
knowledge and awareness of interns regarding the
management of tuberculosis as per recent RNTCP
guidelines.
Materials & Methods:
A structured questionnaire was provided to 111
interns to be filled in a stipulated time. The data
collected was analyzed using descriptive statistical
parameters and expressed in percentage.
Result:
Out of a total of 111 interns, 48 (43.24%) were
males and 63 (56.75%) were females. Good knowledge
was seen among the interns regarding the cardinal
symptoms of TB as well as definition of MDR-TB.
92.79% of the participants responded rightly about two
sputum samples being taken for diagnosis of TB. Only
76.57% of interns knew the principle of treatment of TB
as daily administration of fixed-dose combination of
first-line anti-tubercular drugs as per appropriate
weight bands and 61.27% of interns were unfamiliar of
chemoprophylaxis of tuberculosis according to the
recent RNTCP guidelines. Only 71.17% of the
participants were updated about the follow-up
procedure according to new guidelines. But only
36.93% of participants could answer Cotrimoxazole as
the effective drug used in HIV-TB co-infection apart
from routine TB drugs to reduce mortality. Conclusion:
This survey is providing valuable information that
there is deficiency of knowledge among the interns
regarding management of tuberculosis according to
recent RNTCP guidelines which can lead to treatment
failure and thereby causing a hindrance to elimination
of TB from our country by 2025
Keywords : Interns, Knowledge, Management, RNTCP, Recent guidelines, Tuberculosis