Socio-Demographic Determinants of Adult Tuberculosis: A Matched Case-Control Study in Bangladesh

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a multi-systemic infectious disease that has evoked a substantial disease burden in developing countries, including Bangladesh. The aim of this study is to determine the socio-demographic risk factors for adult tuberculosis. A matched case-control study was conducted with 178 cases and 179 controls from a selected TB hospital in Dhaka. Data was collected via face-to-face interview using a standard structured questionnaire, posing questions about socio-demographic, clinical and behavioral factors where tuberculosis patients were matched for age and sex to controls. Crude and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that over-crowding in a house (OR = 3.49, CI = 2.08-5.93), contact with TB patients during the last 6 months (OR = 1.789, CI = 0.917-3.559) and employed participants (OR = 1.99, CI = 1.175-3.458) were positively associated with the development of TB. Besides, monthly income (>25000 taka) (OR = 0.291, CI = 0.151-0.547) and urban living (OR = 0.295, CI = 0.163-0.527) are found negatively associated with the TB status. The identified determinants for the development of adult tuberculosis reflect a complex interaction among socio-demographic conditions. Tuberculosis control would benefit from a collaboration of broad public health activities in improving the socio-demographic factors.