Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10 - Timor-Leste Ministry of ...

Tables 3.8.1 and 3.8.2 show the percentage of women and men who have heard of TB, and
among those who have heard of it, their knowledge and attitudes concerning TB, according to
background characteristics. TB awareness is very high in Timor-Leste, with 78 percent of women and
83 percent of men aware of it. Differences in awareness of TB by age are not prominent. Rural
women and men are less likely to be aware of TB than their urban counterparts. Awareness of TB is
lowest among women in Liquiçá and men in Ermera, and highest among women in Dili and men in
Manatuto. Not surprisingly, awareness of TB rises with education and wealth quintile.
Sixty-seven percent of women and 64 percent of men age 15-49 reported that TB is spread
through the air when coughing or sneezing. Knowledge of the spread of TB through the air is higher
in rural than urban areas among women, but among men, it is higher in urban than in rural areas.
Surprisingly, almost all women who are aware of TB in Ermera are also aware of how it is spread and
that it can be cured. Knowledge of how it is spread is lowest in Covalima, although nearly all women
in Covalima who are aware of TB believe it can be cured. All men in Manatuto who are aware of TB
are also aware of how it is spread and that it can be cured. There is little difference in the knowledge
of how TB is spread by education among women, but among men knowledge increases markedly with
education. There is no clear pattern between knowledge of how TB is spread and wealth quintile.
Most respondents are aware that TB is curable. Eighty-eight percent of women, and 93
percent of men believe that TB can be cured. Women’s belief that TB can be cured varies minimally
by education, wealth quintile, and place of residence.
A relatively small percentage of women and men mention that they would want to keep a
family member’s TB a secret. However, women are five times more likely than men to want to keep
secret that a family member has TB (10 percent compared with 2 percent). Differences by age are not
large, although the oldest cohort of women is least likely to want to keep this secret. More than twice
as many women in urban as in rural areas want to keep a family member’s TB a secret. Among
women, wanting to keep secret a family member’s TB is much higher in Dili and Bobonaro, and
highest among the most educated and wealthiest women. Differences by background characteristics
are not as marked among men.
Characteristics of Respondents | 45