Which misconceptions matter? Tuberculosis knowledge and stigma towards students with tuberculosis among schoolteachers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: an analytical cross-sectional study

Aims: This study examined whether schoolteachers’ stigma towards students with tuberculosis in Indonesia, which has the world’s second largest tuberculosis burden, is associated with their aggregate knowledge or with particular misconceptions.Methods: In a ۲۰۲۳ cross-sectional survey, ۳۰۰ teachers were randomly selected from staff lists of ten purposively chosen public schools in Yogyakarta City. Knowledge was measured with a ۱۶-item index and stigma with an ۱۱-item scale adapted from one validated in Indonesia. The primary analysis treated both scores as continuous; item-level associations with above-median stigma were explored by logistic regression with false discovery rate adjustment.Findings: Knowledge and stigma were weakly and not significantly correlated (Spearman ρ −۰.۱۰, ۹۵% confidence interval [CI] −۰.۲۱ to ۰.۰۲; adjusted slope −۰.۲۳, ۹۵% CI −۰.۵۵ to ۰.۰۹). The belief that everyone in close contact with a person with tuberculosis will develop the disease was the strongest exploratory signal (adjusted odds ratio ۲.۵۲, ۹۵% CI ۱.۴۵ to ۴.۳۸; univariable false discovery rate adjusted p = ۰.۰۲۲). The belief that tuberculosis can be cured with herbal medicine (adjusted odds ratio ۱.۹۹, ۹۵% CI ۱.۲۱ to ۳.۲۷) did not meet the false discovery rate threshold (adjusted p = ۰.۰۷۲). The most prevalent misconception, continued infectiousness after treatment (۶۲.۷%), was not associated with stigma (odds ratio ۱.۰۲, ۹۵% CI ۰.۶۴ to ۱.۶۳).Conclusion: Stigma was only weakly related to total knowledge, and the clearest exploratory signal concerned a belief that infection after close contact is inevitable. These cross-sectional associations need replication before they inform school curricula.

کلیدواژه ها:

Tuberculosis ، stigma ، Teachers ، Health Knowledge ، Schools ، Child