Description

ABSTRACT

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in Nigeria with an estimated prevalence of 0.62%. Nigeria ranks first in Africa and fourth among the 22 high TB burden countries in the world, with about 460,000 cases of TB recorded annually. HIV is the prime risk factor for TB. However, the prevalence of TB/HIV co-infection is 17.4%. Aim: To determine the awareness of TB and co-infection with HIV amongst antenatal clinic (ANC) attendees at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH). Method: This was a cross sectional study of ANC attendees at the RSUTH. The simple randomized sampling method was used. The information was coded and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: The total number of 200 questionnaires was distributed and 190 retrieved. The mean age was 32 years and the modal parity was 0. The mean gestational age was 30 years. The awareness of TB amongst the ANC attendees was 177 (93.2%). The awareness of TB/HIV co-infection was 143 (75.3%). Six (3.2%) had family members/ friends with TB, HIV or TB/HIV co-infection. Forty-five (76.3%) of the respondents had BCG vaccine in infancy. Conclusion: The study revealed the TB awareness amongst ANC attendees amongst ANC attendees at the RSUTH as high and TB/HIV co-infection awareness was above average (75.3%). Enlightenment program is needed to create awareness to prevent the scourge of TB and TB/HIV co-infection.

 Keywords: Awareness, TB, TB/HIV co-infection, ANC attendees, RSUTH