To investigate the awareness of core tuberculosis (TB) knowledge and the willingness to TB preventive intervention among secondary school students in Lanzhou City, so as to provide a reference basis for the prevention and control of TB in schools.

From April to June 2024, a total of 1 127 secondary school students from 8 schools in 4 districts (counties) of Lanzhou City were recruited by stratified cluster sampling method to conduct a questionnaire survey on the awareness of core TB knowledge and the willingness for preventive intervention against latent tuberculosis infection. Data were analysed using χ² test and binary Logistic regression model.

The overall awareness rate of core TB knowledge among secondary school students in Lanzhou City was 74.48%, while only 25.91% demonstrated awareness of all core knowledge items. The lowest awareness was observed for the item "tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease" (61.84%). About 94.85% of the students reported willingness to receive preventive interventions after a diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection. Multifactorial Logistic regression analysis showed that students whose father's education was junior high school (OR=3.14, 95%CI=1.22-8.08), senior high school or secondary vocational school (OR=3.55, 95%CI=1.16-10.86) had a higher willingness to receive preventive interventions than those whose father's education was primary school or below (both P < 0.05). In addition, students who recognized "suspected tuberculosis" were also more likely to express willingness to receive preventive interventions (OR=1.96, 95%CI=1.01-3.80, P < 0.05).

The total awareness rate of core TB knowledge among secondary school students in Lanzhou City is low; willingness to receive preventive interventions for latent tuberculosis infection is high and it is related to father's literacy and core TB knowledge level.