ABSTRACT Objective: to build an instrument to attain reliable and valid measurements of the knowledge, attitudes and practices of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods: methodological study that measured the sensitivity, reliability and validity of the instrument content. Studies of reliability and content validity comprehensibility involved 234 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Results: an integrative review was conducted for theoretical foundation. The sensitivity study comprised 30 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, who had greater knowledge on tuberculosis (12.03) than the control group (9.93). Factor analysis showed that 7 factors explained 67.8% of the variance. Content validity identified a 98.3 % comprehensibility, and the expert trial assessed the sufficiency, clarity, relevance and coherence criteria, showing agreement between judges. Conclusions: the instrument has studies of sensitivity, reliability and content validity that showed it can be applied to patients with pulmonary tuberculosis; nevertheless, cultural and semantic adaptations must be developed for other scenarios.