Association of Disease Knowledge with Risk Perception and Stigma: Tuberculosis and Latent Tuberculosis Infection

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Although it has been steadily decreasing, Korea has not yet completely eradicated tuberculosis (TB), strategies to prevent the spread of infection and manage active TB and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) are necessary. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, risk perception, and stigma related to TB and LTBI in the Korean population and examine how knowledge impacts risk perception and stigma. A cross-sectional survey using 47-items questionnaire in Korean adults who randomly recruited using age and geographical distribution based proportional allocation method was conducted in June 2023. Total 1,000 subjects were enrolled. 60.2 and 19.3% of respondents answered subjectively understanding of TB and LTBI, respectively. The primary source of disease information was the mass media. The mean knowledge scores were 49.2 for TB and 29.0 for LTBI (out of 100). The mean scores of risk perception were 81.7 and 74.2, and stigma scores were 69.3 and 61.9, for TB and LTBI, respectively (out of 100). Approximately 90% of respondents agreed necessities of national level disease management and public education for disease. Correlation analysis revealed that, for both TB and LTBI, higher subjective understanding level was associated with higher knowledge score. Additionally, greater LTBI knowledge was associated with lower risk perception and reduced stigma. Considering that Korean’s disease knowledge is not high and knowledge is associated with risk perception and stigma, nationwide educational program for TB, particularly for LTBI, targeted at groups with weak knowledge of the disease is necessary to achieve efficient TB control and prevention.