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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Knowledge about tuberculosis among undergraduate health care students in 15 Italian universities: a cross-sectional study
Giovanni Battista OrsiRaffaele ZarrilliLicia VeronesiMaria Valeria TorregrossaAngelo FortunatoMarcello Mario D’erricoAnna Maria TortoranoStefano TardivoBeatrice CasiniPaolo MontuoriNapoli ChristianDomenico MartinelliMaria Teresa MontagnaGiovanni SotgiuCinzia GerminarioMaria Fatima MassentiGabriele MessinaGiuseppe Michele MasanottiA. QuarantaSilvio TafuriFrancesco AuxiliaArmando StefanatiAgodi AntonellaMaria Franca CosciaIda MuraMargherita FerranteCesira Pasquarellasubject
AdultMaleQuestionnairesmedicine.medical_specialtyHealth Knowledge Attitudes PracticeTuberculosisUndergraduate health care studentsStudents MedicalUniversitiesCross-sectional studyeducationTuberculinNursingSettore MED/42 - Igiene Generale E ApplicataYoung AdultTuberculosis; knowledge; Undergraduate health care studentsSurveys and QuestionnairesMedicalHealth careEpidemiologyTubercolosismedicineHumansTuberculosisMED/42 Igiene generale e applicatatubercolosis prevenctionStudentsPreventive healthcarePracticebusiness.industryPublic healthHealth KnowledgePublic Health Environmental and Occupational HealthAdult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Italy; Male; Questionnaires; Students Medical; Students Nursing; Tuberculosis; Universities; Young Adult; Health Knowledge Attitudes Practicemedicine.diseaseKnowledgeCross-Sectional StudiesItalyFamily medicineKnowledge Tuberculosis Undergraduate health care studentsAttitudesStudents NursingMED/01 Statistica medicaFemaleBiostatisticsbusinessknowledge; Tubercolosis; Undergraduate health care studentsResearch Articledescription
Background: The Italian Study Group on Hospital Hygiene of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health conducted a multicentre survey aiming to evaluate undergraduate health care students’ knowledge of tuberculosis and tuberculosis control measures in Italy. Methods: In October 2012–June 2013, a sample of medical and nursing students from 15 Italian universities were enrolled on a voluntary basis and asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire investigating both general knowledge of tuberculosis (aetiology, clinical presentation, outcome, screening methods) and personal experiences and practices related to tuberculosis prevention. Data were analysed through multivariable regression using Stata software. Results: The sample consisted of 2,220 students in nursing (72.6%) and medicine (27.4%) courses. Our findings clearly showed that medical students had a better knowledge of tuberculosis than did nursing students. Although the vast majority of the sample (up to 95%) answered questions about tuberculosis aetiology correctly, only 60% of the students gave the correct responses regarding clinical aspects and vaccine details. Overall, 66.9% of the students had been screened for tuberculosis, but less than 20% of those with a negative result on the tuberculin skin test were vaccinated. Multivariable regression analysis showed that age and type of study programme (nursing vs. medical course) were determinants of answering the questions correctly. Conclusions: Although our data showed sufficient knowledge on tuberculosis, this survey underlines the considerable need for improvement in knowledge about the disease, especially among nursing students. In light of the scientific recommendations concerning tuberculosis knowledge among students, progress of current health care curricula aimed to develop students’ skills in this field is needed.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-09-01 |