Prevalence and factors associated with tuberculosis among tuberculosis suspects in Rulindo District

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Millions of people worldwide still lose their lives to tuberculosis each year, making it a serious global health issue. Despite the fact that all of the WHO's recommended tuberculosis control techniques have been put into place, there is still a significant gap in tuberculosis case detection and treatment, which has led to rapid case transmission in high burden countries including Rwanda. This study aimed to study prevalence and risk factors associated with TB among TB suspect in Rulindo District.

METHOD: From October 2022 to June 2023, a cross-sectional study was undertaken in the Rulindo District. Participants in the study were those who had been sent to healthcare facilities as TB suspects according to clinical symptoms. Data was gathered using a standardized questionnaire based on TB Book that included questions about potential risk factors, socioeconomic status, medical history, and demographic data. The questionnaire was formatted and created in an Excel sheet. Data Evaluation Demographic traits and prevalence rates were summarized using descriptive statistics. In order to analyze assocition between demographic data, Intermediate risk factors, and TB status, chi-square tests and logistic regression were used.

Results: This study was inditified 4.8% as prevalence of TB in Rulindo District, that is 74 of the 1533 tuberculosis suspects included in the study were found to have active TB. There were 46.16% women and 53.84% men in the study population. The age varied from 0 to 60, with the [45-59] group showing the highest prevalence of TB. About life style to TB: A logissitic regression analysis showed that sex, life style (smoking, Contact with TB Cases), and [history of Treated TB Before were significantly linked to a higher risk of TB among suspects with [AOR: 2.26 (1.33 - 3.83) P-value = 0.003], [AOR: 6.84 (2.22 - 21.08) p- value: 0.001], [AOR:2.19 (1.07 - 4.47) p-value 0.032) ], and [AOR:6.40 (2.14 - 19.14) p

CONCLUSION: This study provides a thorough understanding of tuberculosis prevalence and life style among tuberculosis suspects in Rulindo District. The need for targeted therapies and better case management is urgent given the high prevalence of TB and the existence of drug resistant patients. A higher risk of TB was observed to be associated with characteristics like sex, Historical of Treated TB before, Contact with TB casesand Smoking, underscoring the necessity of comprehensive policies addressing these determinants. These findings add to the vi body of knowledge that health authorities can use to adopt better TB control strategies, early detection, and appropriate treatment. To track patterns and improve measures in the battle against tuberculosis in Rulindo District and comparable settings, additional study and continued surveillance are crucial.