RESUMO
SETTING: Delay in seeking care is one of the critical issues in tuberculosis (TB) control among homeless persons in Japan. Yet knowledge of and attitude towards TB among homeless persons have remained unclear and limited efforts have been made to disseminate information related to TB among homeless persons. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of TB leaflets, produced and distributed to homeless persons by a group of ex-homeless TB patients, and to understand what homeless persons know about TB. DESIGN: Self-administered questionnaire was conducted among homeless persons before and after distribution of the TB leaflets. Changes in the responses to each question were also subjected to principal component analysis to group questions into types according to response patterns and identify constructs of TB-related knowledge. RESULTS: Results of 88 participants were analyzed. TB knowledge score related to risks and symptoms significantly improved after the intervention (from 54.3% to 70.6%, p < 0.05), while knowledge on treatment cost did not. Two components were identified, namely, the "improvement in TB impression" and "improvement in TB knowledge". CONCLUSION: TB leaflets were effective in improving certain aspects of TB knowledge. However, its effect on knowledge regarding treatment cost, which may be crucial in improving delay, was limited and thus the messages need to be revised.