Tuberculosis and associated risk factors: A 5-year review in a Tertiary Hospital, Kaduna, northwest Nigeria

Abstract

Background: There has been different strategies in the eradication of tuberculosis worldwide and the different risk factors contributing to its occurrence  need to be identified and corrected. This study set out to review and identify associated risk factors affecting the outcome of tuberculosis (TB) in a tertiary hospital in Kaduna, Nigeria.

Method: A retrospective study among patients treated for tuberculosis using the TB treatment national registers and patients’ treatment cards between  January 2015 and December 2019 in a tertiary hospital, Kaduna state, North- West Nigeria. The age, sex, marital status, occupation and clinical  characteristics (category of patient, HIV status, TB diagnostic category, and treatment outcome (cured, treatment complete, died, defaulted, and  treatment failure) were the variables of interest. Data were coded, cleaned, analyzed and summarized using frequencies and percentages; bivariate and  multivariate analysis were done with statistical significance set at p <0.05 at 95% confidence level using SPSS IBM version 23.

Result: A total of 1573 cases were enrolled during this period consisting of 992 (63.1%) males and 581 (36.9%) females. Their mean age was 35.78 ± 15.49  years with the age group 21-40 years 815 (51.8%) being most affected. Majority 1421 (90.3%) were new with a treatment success rate of 88.1%. Bivariate  analysis revealed that age >40years (p=0.00), positive HIV status (p=0.00) and extrapulmonary site (p=0.02) negatively affected treatment outcome.  

Conclusion: The study showed that the treatment success rate was high in this facility and older patients, coinfection with HIV and extrapulmonary site of  TB was associated with poor treatment outcome. Therefore, greater attention should be placed on these at-risk patients