Assessment of Client's Knowledge, Attitude and Health Seeking Behavior Towards Tuberculosis at Serrekunda Health Center and Brikama District Hospital.

Background: Tuberculosis is a leading cause of death in the globe as it kills a total of 1.4 million people in 2019 (WHO, 2020). Yet with the availability of higher sensitive diagnostic tools and free treatment, TB incidence rate falls at about only 2% per year. This is far less than half way of the End TB strategy milestone of 20% reduction between 2015 and 2020 (WHO, 2020). This highlights the need for increased efforts to ensure that infected individuals receive timely treatment. The purpose of this research seeks to assess knowledge, attitude, and health seeking behavior of client`s attending Serrekunda Health Center and Brikama District Hospital.  

Method: A semi- structured questionnaire was used to collect data through an interview from 27 study participants (client`s) above the age of 18-year-old. The participants were interviewed on their first day of visit at the two main health facilities in the Gambia; Serrekunda Health Center and Brikama District Hospital. IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 was used for the data entry and analysis.  

Result: The study reveals that 77.8% of the participants (client`s) where unable to described tuberculosis as contagious and a disease of the lungs. However, about 18.5% do not have any idea about TB. Majority of the participants (client`s), about 55.6% have negative attitude towards living with TB patients. On the contrary, 37.0% reported that they will avoid their families from contracting TB infection from them. Moreover, 25.9% of the responders have visited a health facility where TB are tested and significant number (74.0%) had visited other care providers where TB test are not available 

Conclusion: there is a misconception about TB among clients that were interviewed in the study, this has resulted in poor attitudes towards TB particularly in the families. As such, there is a need for more sensitization efforts to educate the public about TB and the importance of where to seek for care when experiencing TB symptoms. This is crucial in achieving the goals of the End TB strategy. Moving forward, it is recommended that public health initiatives prioritize TB education and awareness-raising programs to address the misconceptions identified in this study.