ABSTRACT
More than 1.5 million TB cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa every year. Lack of compliance to TB treatment has contributed to the steady rise of TB incidence in Zambia. The prevalence of TB was 511 per 100;000 populations in 2000. Much of the increase in incidence has been attributed to co-infection with HIV; there are HIV rates of 70-80in TB patients Objectives: To determine knowledge; attitude and compliance with TB treatment by PTB patients attending chest clinic at a tertiary hospital. Design and Measures: A descriptive study was conducted on a convenience sample of 104 pulmonary PTB patients receiving health care at chest clinic of a tertiary hospital in Lusaka; Zambia. An Interview Schedule comprising of four sections (d e m o g r a p h i c ; k n o w l e d g e ; a t t i t u d e ; a n d compliance) was used to collect data. Results: A total of 104 respondents aged 18 to 66 years took part in the study. Forty-nine percent were female; 51.9were married and 42.3had primary education only. About half of the respondents (49) had no monthly income and majority of those with no income were female. Two thirds of the respondents (76) lived in high-density areas. Half of the respondents (49) had average knowledge of TB treatment. Majority of the respondents (89.4) had positive attitude towards TB treatment rating high in all the attitude subscales; 74in commitment; 84.6in challenge and 55.8in control. Most of the respondents' (80.8) reported complying with TB treatment regimens. There was a positive relationship between compliance and attitude; indicating that as the level of attitude increases; compliance level also increases (r = 0.59; p 0.001). The results further showed that there was a significant positive correlation between knowledge and attitude (r