Socio-demographic and economic factors
The response rate of the study was 97.23%. The mean age of respondents was 26.05±7.82 years. Of all respondents, 917 (96.6%) were from the Amhara region. The majority, 728 (76.21%) were in the age group of 13-29 years. The median family size of respondents was 5 with the Inter Quartile Range (IQR= 4-6). Of all, 447 (47.1%) had no formal education. About 644 (68%) and177 (19%) of migrants and seasonal workers were farmers and students by occupation, respectively. The median daily income of respondents was 120 Birr with IQR of 100-150 Birr. Regarding residence, 831 (87.57%) were rural dwellers. Only 178 (18.76%) of migrant and seasonal farmworkers had one visit (Table 1).
Source of information of respondents
Five hundred sixty-five (59.54%) heard information about TB at different sources. Of these, 328 (58.05%) heard from mass media, and the majority, 508 (90.07%) obtained health information from health workers. Also, 270 (47.96%) obtained from friends/families, 90 (15.96%) reading posters and 145 (25.75%) from school.
Knowledge on tuberculosis
In this study, 758 (79.87%) of respondents be acquainted with the cause of TB as germ/bacteria. Regarding symptoms of TB, 721(75.97%) respondents and nearly half (45.63%) know TB patients had persistent cough and sputum with blood, respectively. Nearly one-third of 351 (36.99%) of respondents know that TB patients had a fever. Of all, 732 (77.13%) of respondents know that TB is transmittable. Five hundred thirty-three, 533 (56.16%) know that TB transmission can be prevented by minimizing close contact. Regarding on treatment of TB, 785 (82.72%) know that TB can be prevented. In this study, 41.83% (95%CI: 38.73, 45.01) of migrant and seasonal farmworkers were knowledgeable (Table 2).
The attitude of respondents on Tuberculosis
The majority, 655 (67.93%) believed TB is a very serious disease and only 294 (30.2%) believed TB is a serious problem in their community. Six hundred eighty-three (72.0%) mentioned that they would not feel feared or ashamed if they would have TB. Of all, 275 (28.35%) believed that some people are more likely to be affected by TB than others. Three hundred sixty-six (38.57%) would not show any feeling of compassion and desire to help TB patients. The overall favorable attitude was observed in nearly fifty percent of respondents 50.47% (95% CI: 47.29-53.65) (Table 3).
Health seeking behavior
Four hundred ninety-two (51.82%) respondents would go to doctor/health professional if they had TB. Besides, 175 (18.44%) and 175 (18.44%) respondents respond they would contact parents and close friends, respectively if they had TB. Of all, 708 (74.60%) would seek medical care if the symptoms last for greater than two weeks. Two hundred (21.07%) would seek medical care as soon as they realized the symptoms. The remaining, 41 (4.32%) would seek medical care when my treatment doesn’t work. From 552 respondents with poor knowledge, 62 (11.23%) had good seeking behavior. On the other hand among 397 respondents with good knowledge 93 (23.43%) had good health-seeking behavior.
Associated factors
In the bivariate analysis seven factors including educational status, family size, daily income, mass media exposure, obtain health information from friends, health information from posters, and hearing health information from school became significant at p-value less than 0.2. However, in multivariable analysis, only family size and mass media exposure retained significantly. The odds of having good knowledge among respondents having 3-5 and >=6 families were increased by 80% and 85%, respectively compared to respondents having less than three families. The odds of good knowledge were increased by 42% among respondents having mass media exposure compared to their counterparts (Table 4).
Associated factors with attitude
In the bivariate analysis educational status, occupation, family size, residency, health information, and knowledge were statistically significant. However, in the multivariate logistic regression analysis, only three variables (Health information, residence, and knowledge) were statistically significant factors to have a favorable attitude. The odds of having a favorable attitude among urban dwellers were increased by 63% compared with rural counterparts. The odds of favorable attitude on TB among respondents who had health information were increased by 72% compared with their counterparts. The odds of favorable attitudes were 4.3 times higher among participants with good knowledge compared with their counterparts (Table 5).