Effectiveness of planned health education on knowledge regarding HIV-TB co-infection among HIV patients

Abstract: BACKGROUND: In various parts of the world, mainly in developing nations, co-infection with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) is a significant public health concern. Commonly HIV-TB co-infection is related to a lack of knowledge on TB among people surviving with HIV. Hence, the particular research study is done to know the effectiveness of planned health education on HIV-TB co-infection among HIV patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: “Nonrandomized controlled trail design” (before and after trial) was used for the study. Written permission was granted from hospital authorities and written consent was obtained from HIV patients after explaining the study and its objectives. Data were collected from 80 HIV-positive patients using a purposive sampling technique. These patients were interviewed for their knowledge of HIV-TB co-infection, followed by health teaching was delivered. After 8 days of health education, a posttest was carried out using the same tool. RESULTS: It was showed that pretest mean knowledge scores were 4.18 with a 1.97 standard deviation (SD), whereas posttest mean knowledge scores were 7.58 with a 2.12 SD. The obtained paired t -value was 10.31, which at the 0.05 level was statistically significant and revealed that health education was effective in improving HIV patients’ knowledge scores. CONCLUSION: The present research study concluded that the health teaching program was effective in improving knowledge scores regarding HIV-TB co-infection among HIV patients. Hence, there is an urgent need to educate HIV patients on the prevention of HIV-TB co-infection.