Effectiveness of a planned teaching programme for DOTS providers on tuberculosis and its related quality of life

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in most parts of India, including Karnataka. Being a chronic disease it affects the quality of life (QOL) of the patients and their families. Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS) providers under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) have an important role in educating clients as they receive DOTS. An awareness of tuberculosis and its impact on the QOL of clients is thus very imperative for DOTS providers. Objectives: 1. To determine the knowledge of DOTS providers in both the experimental and control group on TB and its related QOL. 2. To find the effectiveness of the planned teaching programme in terms of gain in post tests knowledge scores. Methodology: A quasi experimental study was conducted at selected DOTS centers at Mangalore. A total of 50 DOTS providers were selected and randomly assigned into the control and experimental group during the period April 2010 and December 2012. The pretest knowledge of DOTS providers were assessed by a structured knowledge questionnaire and an intensive health education was given to the DOTS providers. The post test was conducted after 7th, 30th, 90th, and 180th day. After every post test the planned teaching program was reinforced. Results: The mean post test knowledge of DOTS providers on the 7th day after the planned teaching programmes and then at the 30th, 90th and 180th day was significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group. The Obtained F value [F (4,96) =484.517, p<0.05] showed that the teaching programme was effective to improve knowledge of DOTS providers.