Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Effect of an e‑learning tool on knowledge of recent Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme guidelines among Medical Interns

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. A. V. Ancy
. Prabha Thangaraj
. Kumaraswamy Hemalatha
. M. Bethubarani
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Medical students should have adequate knowledge on tuberculosis (TB) and
national guidelines pertaining to its control, which is a major public health problem in developing
countries. The present study aims to evaluate the knowledge on TB and Revised National TB Control
Programme (RNTCP) among medical interns and the change in the level of knowledge following the
dissemination of self‑directed learning (SDL) modules using an e‑learning tool (WhatsApp).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, nonrandomized, pre‑ and posttest study was done
among 124 medical interns in a private medical college during July–August 2019. A semi‑structured,
self‑administered questionnaire was prepared and filled by the interns in the pretest. Following the
educational intervention, the same questionnaire was administered and posttest data were collected.
The pre‑ and posttest results were expressed in frequency and percentage. Wilcoxon signed rank
test was used to compare the change in the total mean score of knowledge using the e‑learning tool
following the dissemination of SDL modules.
RESULTS: The mean age of the interns was 22.82 ± 0.82 years. Of the total 124 interns, 60 (48.3%)
had heard about the recent changes in RNTCP. The Internet (25.8%) and textbooks (23.4%) were
the most common source of recent information regarding TB and RNTCP. The mean pretest score
was 12.9 ± 3.08, which increased to 15.3 ± 2.62 during the posttest (z = −9.75, P < 0.05) following
the intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge regarding TB and RNTCP among the interns was inadequate.
The usage of an e‑learning tool “WhatsApp” was found to be effective in improving the knowledge
in posttest as compared to pretest.

Keywords

E‑learning
interns
Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme
tuberculosis
1. Central TB Division. Revised National TB Control Programme.
India TB Report; 2018. Available from: https://tbcindia.gov.in/
showfile.php?lid=3314. [Last accessed on 2019 Oct 19].
2. National Health Portal (NHP) India. Revised National TB
Control Programme. Available from: https://www.nhp.gov.
in/revised‑national‑tuberculosis‑control‑programme_pg. [Last
accessed on 2019 Oct 10].
3. Central TB Division. Revised National TB Control Programme.
National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Elimination 2017‑2025.
Available from: https://tbcindia.gov.in/WriteReadData/
NSP%20Draft%2020.020.2017%201.pdf. [Last accessed on
2019 Oct 10].
4. Abdurehiman T, Ramachandran K, Prasath A, Srinivasan R. To
assess the awareness and knowledge of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
and RNTCP guidelines among interns and postgraduates at
a tertiary care hospital in South India. Paripex Indian J Res
2018;7(1):80‑2.
5. Raghavendra L, Babu SP, Shivakumar KM. Assessment of
knowledge of intern doctors of a medical college hospital in
Karnataka on revised national TB control programme. Int J Adv
Med 2017;4(4):1123‑7.
6. Chavan PV, Datta D, Patil RS, Daniel AJ. Awareness about
RNTCP and DOTS Guidelines among health care professionals
of a tertiary care hospital of South India. Natl J Community Med
2014;5(1):77‑8.
7. Balamurugan SS, Swaminathan RS. The awareness about
tuberculosis and DOTS among the aspiring doctors in a
tertiary medical college hospital, Salem, Tamil Nadu. NJRCM
2013;2(2):133‑9.
8. Mehta D, Bassi R, Singh M, Mehta C. To study the knowledge
about tuberculosis management and national tuberculosis
program among medical students and aspiring doctors in a
high tubercular endemic country. Ann Trop Med Public Health
2012;5(3):206‑8.
9. Singla N, Sharma PP, Singla R, Jain RC. Survey of knowledge,
attitudes and practices for tuberculosis among general
practitioners in Delhi, India. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 1998;2(5):384‑9.
10. Srivastava DK, Mishra A, Mishra S, Chouksey M, Jain P, Gour N,
et al. A comparative assessment of KAP regarding tuberculosis
and RNTCP among government and private practitioners in District Gwalior, India: An operational research. Indian J Tuberc
2011;58(4):168‑77.
11. Datta K, Bhatnagar T, Murhekar M. Private practitioners’
knowledge, attitude and practices about tuberculosis, Hooghly
district, India. Indian J Tuberc 2010;57(4):199‑206.
12. Acharya PR, D’Souza M, Sahoo RC. Tuberculosis knowledge
and attitude in aspiring doctors and nurses‑Is it time for our TB
teaching methods to evolve? Indian J Tuberc 2017;64(1):20‑5.
13. Gon S, Rawekar A. Effectivity of e‑learning through WhatsApp
as a teaching learning tool. MVP J Med Sci 2017;4(1):19‑25.
14. Cetinkaya L. The impact of Whatsapp use on success in education
process. Int Rev Res Open Distributed Learn 2017;18(7):59‑74
15. Dyavarishetty PV, Patil DC. An interventional study to assess
the effectiveness of WhatsApp‘ as a teaching learning tool in
community medicine. Int J Community Med Public Health
2017;4(7):2564‑9.
16. NPTEL. Manage TB. Available from: https://onlinecourses.
nptel.ac.in/noc18_ge10/preview. [Last accessed on 2019 Oct 10].
17. VanNieuwenborg L, Goossens M, De Lepeleire J, Schoenmakers B.
Continuing medical education for general practitioners: A practice
format. Postgrad Med J 2016;92(1086):217‑22.
18. George PP, Papachristou N, Belisario JM, Wang W, Wark PA,
Cotic Z, et al. Online eLearning for undergraduates in health
professions: A systematic review of the impact on knowledge,
skills, attitudes and satisfaction. J Glob Health 2014;4(1):1‑17.
19. Basu M, Das P. Assessment of knowledge regarding tuberculosis
in the context of revised national tuberculosis control program
among budding doctors. Chronicles of Young Scientists
2014;5(1):59‑64.
20. Khadse J, Bhardwaj SD, Ruikar M. Assessment of knowledge
and practices of referring private practitioners regarding revised
national tuberculosis control programme in Nagpur city - A cross
sectional study. Online J Health Allied Sci 2011;10(4):1‑4.
21. Revathi R, Dharanisri R. Knowledge about tuberculosis among
undergraduate medical students in a private college in Chennai.
Int J Community Med Public Health 2018;5(2):644‑6.
22. Giri PA, Phalke DB. Impact of sensitization workshop on
knowledge regarding tuberculosis among final year medical
students. Int J Med Public Health 2013;3(2):100‑2.
23. Guidelines on Prevention and Management of TB in PLHIV at ART
Centres. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare; December, 2016.
Available from: http://www.naco.gov.in/sites/default/files/
Guidelines%20on%20Prevention%20%26%20Management%20
TB%20in%20PLHIV_08Dec16%20%281%29.pdf. [Last accessed
on 2019 Oct 10].
24. Chaudhuri AD. Recent changes in technical and operational
guidelines for tuberculosis control programme in India ‑ 2016:
A paradigm shift in tuberculosis control. J Assoc Chest Physicians
2017;5(1):1‑9.
25. Central Tuberculosis Division, Directorate General of Health
Services. TB Surveillance and Notification. Available from:
https://tbcindia.gov.in/showfile.php?lid=3285. [Last accessed
on 2019 Oct 10].
26. The Gazette of India: Extraordinary. Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare. Notification. New Delhi; 16th March, 2018. Available
from: http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2018/183924.pdf.
[Last accessed on 2019 Oct 10].
27. Bansal T, Joshi D. A study of students’ experiences of mobile
learning. Global J Hum Soc Sci 2014;14(4):26‑33.
28. Gaupp R, Fabry G, Körner M. Self‑regulated learning and critical
reflection in an e‑learning on patient safety for third‑year medical
students. Int J Med Educ 2018;9:189‑94.
Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 10, Issue 9
September 2020
Pages 1-7

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us