A Study on Continuity of Knowledge, Attitude, and Preventive Behavior among Elementary School Students after Tuberculosis Prevention Education

Abstract

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc/3.0), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Purpose: This study was to examine the changes in knowledge, attitudes, and preventive behaviors among elementary school students after providing them with tuberculosis prevention education. Methods: A total of 235 students from D elementary school in G city were selected. After completing tuberculosis prevention education, the subjects were surveyed five times for 16 weeks. 1,087 samples were included in the final analysis. One-way ANOVA, Scheffé's test, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression analysis were performed to examine the changes in tuberculosis-related knowledge, attitudes and preventive behaviors over time. Results: After 16 weeks from the education, the scores of preventive behaviors did not show any significant difference compared to the time right after the education. However, the scores of knowledge and attitudes tended to improve. In particular, 1st~2nd graders had high scores in both knowledge and attitude, and the scores of knowledge and attitude gradually increased over time. The correlation between knowledge, attitude, and preventive behavior regarding tuberculosis had a positive significance during the entire time of the survey. Conclusion: Positive associations between knowledge and attitude and between attitude and preventive behavior sustained for 16 weeks after tuberculosis education among elementary school students. This study suggests that tuberculosis prevention education conducted early on from lower grades can produce more educational effects and that it could be a foundation not only for developing knowledge of tuberculosis but also for cultivating adequate attitudes and forming active tuberculosis preventive behaviors.