Knowledge, Risk Perception and Practice Regarding Tuberculosis Transmission among Long Distance Bus Drivers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Window opening during bus transportationis recommended as a tuberculosis prevention strategy.Yet,drivers are affected by lack knowledge and risk perception ofpassengers and assistants. Boosting knowledge of andnotifying the high risk of tuberculosis transmission for everypassenger could be too costly. However, strategies targetingbus drivers as key agents unlike targeting all passengersmight be less costly for window opening.METHOD: Data were collected from November 18/2014 toDecember 21/2014 in inter-region bus stations of AddisAbaba using cross sectional study design. Samples of 306participants were selected using simple random sampling,and data were collected through face-to-face interview. Datawere entered into Epi-data version 3.1 andanalyzed usingIBM SPSS version 21.RESULT: From a sample of 306 bus drivers, 303 wereinterviewed. Nine in ten and nearly half of participantsbelievedintheneedforopening all windows and avoiding overcrowdingofpassengersasTBpreventivemeasuresrespectively. Few bus drivers (7.3%) believed that bus driversand their assistants could be at risk of tuberculosis. Themajority (85.7%) of bus drivers opened side window the wholeday without precondition. Hearing tuberculosis relatedinformation from radio was a promoting factor fortuberculosis preventive measures among bus drivers.CONCLUSION: Tuberculosis preventive practices andknowledge of bus drivers seempositive (opportunities), despitetheir low risk perception (challenge). Using the opportunity,further empowering bus drivers to persuade passengers andassistants to open all the rest of the windows is needed.