Open Access Journal │www.njcmindia.org pISSN 0976 3325│eISSN 2229 6816 National Journal of Community Medicine│Volume 5│Issue 3│July – Sept 2014 Page 346 Original Article ▌ ARE URBAN SLUM DWELLERS AWARE ABOUT TUBERCULOSIS? – A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY IN SURAT CITY Hetvi D Mahida 1 , Kavin N Shroff 1 , Tanvi D Kesur 1 , N B Patel 2 Financial Support: None declared Conflict of interest: None declared Copy right: The Journal retains the copyrights of this article. However, reproduction of this article in the part or total in any form is permissible with due acknowledgement of the source. How to cite this article: Mahida HD, Shroff KN, Kesur KD, Patel NB. Are Urban Slum Dwellers Aware About Tuberculosis? – A Cross Sectional Study in Surat City. Natl J Community Med 2014: 5(3);346-8. Author’s Affiliation: 1 Internees, 2 Assistant Professor, De- partment of Community Medicine, SMIMER, Surat Correspondence: Hetvi D. Mahida Email: mahidahetvi@gmail.com Date of Submission: 27-07-14 Date of Acceptance: 24-09-14 Date of Publication: 30-9-14 ABSTRACT Introduction: The global burden of TB mainly lies in the 22 high burden countries and about 50% of prevalence occurs in 5 countries of South East Asia, namely, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Thailand, Myanmar. Perceptions regarding TB prevailing in the community influence the health seeking behavior of the community. It is important that basic knowledge about the disease and the availability of treatment is clear among community to prevent any undue delay in availing the service. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in urban slum in catchment area of urban health training centre, Varach- ha of the Surat District. A pretested, structured interview schedule was used to assess the KAP related to symptoms, causes, spread, and treat- ment of TB. Domains identified were knowledge about TB, symptoms, spread, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of TB. Result: According to participants view in relation to presenting symp- toms it can be fever (84.4%), cough >14 days (66.2%), weight loss (69.72%), and hemoptysis (23.85%). Out of 218, 126 (57.8%) participants believed that TB can be transmitted through sneezing/ cough. But only 51.83% were aware about correct duration of treatment. 129 (59.17%) had knowledge regarding place of treatment for TB. Conclusion: Knowledge about symptoms and treatment of tuberculosis among respondents was quite good; however, misconceptions about transmission of disease lead to discrimination. Knowledge about “free treatment” and “duration of treatment” has to be stressed during health education activities Keywords: Urban slum, tuberculosis, cough, hemoptysis, awareness INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health problem in many developing countries including India. Worldwide there were 8.8 million new cases of TB in 2010. 1 With the increasing number of HIV infection and AIDS cas- es there is a threat of resurgence of TB as this is the most common opportunistic infection in them. 2 TB is the leading cause of death among all infectious diseas- es and WHO reported that in 2010 there were 1.1 mil- lion deaths among HIV negative people and an addi- tional 0.35 million deaths from HIV associated tuber- culosis. 1 The global burden of TB mainly lies in the 22 high burden countries and about 50% of prevalence occurs in 5 countries of South East Asia, namely, India, Indo- nesia, Bangladesh, and Thailand, Myanmar. 1 It is important that basic knowledge about the disease and the availability of treatment is clear among com- munity to prevent any undue delay in availing the service. The perceptions of TB prevailing in the community influence the health seeking behavior of people for their symptoms. While care seeking behavior of chest symptomatic has been explored in deferent studies, there is dearth of information on community percep- tions of TB. 3 The current study was done to determine knowledge of general people about tuberculosis and their perception of the illness. METHODOLOGY A community-based cross-sectional study was con- ducted in urban slum in catchment area of urban health training centre, Varachha of the Surat District.