Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to find out the level of knowledge of the patients who were treated for pulmonary tuberculosis about their disease. The research has been conducted on 100 pulmonary tuberculosis patients who were admitted to tuberculosis units of Atatürk Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Hospital between May 15, 1999 and June 15, 1999. The forms that contain patient’s personal information and questionnaire related to pulmonary tuberculosis were used as the data tool prepared by the researcher. Data have been collected as personal interviews with patients. Commercially available statistical software (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Average scores of patients were compared by using chi-square test. Scores of patients were found to be significantly associated with sex, level of education, monthly income, duration of hospitalization, being informed about tuberculosis prior to hospitalization and duration of hospitalization. Scores of pulmonary tuberculosis patients were found to be significantly associated with sex, level of education, monthly income, duration of hospitalization, being informed about tuberculosis prior to hospitalization and duration of hospitalization. Age, presence of other comorbidities, the institution in which the diagnosis was made, the place where the patients lived and family size did not influence the scores significantly.