Perception regarding treatment among parents/guardians of pediatric TB patients in Delhi

Introduction: Tuberculosis is a major health problem in many countries. In India, TB kills 14 times more people than all tropical diseases combined, 21 times more than malaria and 400 times more than leprosy. TB has become a major barrier to social and economic development. The objective of the study was to study the perception regarding the treatment under revised national tuberculosis control programme among parents/guardians of pediatric tuberculosis patients. Material and Methods: We conducted cross-sectional study during January 2014 to October 2014. Out of 10 RNTCP zones of Delhi state, two zones namely south zone and south west zone were selected by convenient sampling method and all pediatric tuberculosis patients who were declared as cured or treatment completed at these two zones had been selected by complete enumeration method. Parents/guardians of these study subjects were interviewed for the perception regarding the treatment of their children under RNTCP. Results: Out of 462 informants, Only 105(22.7%) informants were aware about correct cause of TB i.e. Germ. Majority 145(31.9%) were not having any idea about mode of transmission of TB. About 432(93.5%) informants were aware about TB is curable and 420(90.9%) correctly said that TB is preventable disease.