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Effects of directly observed treatment short-course education program on the knowledge, attitude and practice of community health extension workers in the management of tuberculosis in Sagamu local government, Ogun state, southwest Nigeria

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading infectious diseases globally. Effective follow-up of TB patients is imperative for disease control. The present study assessed the effects of a directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) education program on the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of community health extension workers (CHEWs) in the management of TB in Sagamu, Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria. Methods: A controlled experimental study was carried out in three phases (pre-training, immediate post-training and three months post-training) between two groups (control and intervention groups). Data were analyzed using paired and Student’s t-tests as appropriate. Results: Pre-training assessment KAP scores were poor for CHEWs in both the control and intervention groups. There was a statistically significant increase (p<0.05) in KAP of DOTS in TB management at both the immediate and three months post-training stages when compared with the pre-training stage. Comparison between the immediate and three months post-training scores showed no significant difference. Conclusions: The education program was an effective intervention to improve the CHEW’s knowledge, attitude and practice of DOTS in the management of tuberculosis. Thus, there should be frequent education of health care providers on DOTS to increase their capacities for meeting the challenges of providing care for tuberculosis patients .