Clinical Profile Analysis of Tuberculosis Patients Attended in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Despite noteworthy socio-economic development and advances in medical science, tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem. Although it is a curable disease, still millions of people suffer and a large number of patients die from this infectious disease. Now a day, the prevalence and nature of tuberculosis are not in a consistent stage. So we need more current information regarding this issue. Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical profile of tuberculosis patients attended in a tertiary care hospital in Bangladesh. Methods: This was a prospective, observational study which was conducted in the department of Medicine, North Bengal Medical College, Sirajgonj, Bangladesh during the period from January 2020 to June 2022. In total 87 diagnosed patients with tuberculosis, treated in the mentioned hospital were selected as the study subjects. Before data collection, proper written consents were taken from all the participants. For data collection a predesigned questionnaire was used in data collection. Collected data were processed, analyzed and disseminated by using MS Excel and SPSS version 23.0 program as per necessity. Results: In this study, the male-female ratio of the participants was 1.7:1. The highest number of participants were from the 41-50 years’ age group which was 27.59%. BMI (Kg/m2) was found ≥18.5 in 61% and < 18.5 was found in 39% of patients. Majority (56%) of the cases were ‘non- smoker’. As the types of TB, pulmonary Koch’s, CNS tuberculosis, abdominal Koch’s, and TB lymphadenitis were found in 43% 21%, 14%, and 13% of participants respectively which was noticeable. In this study, among all the participants, cough and fever were found as two most frequent symptoms which were found in 93% and 84% of patients respectively. Conclusion: Fever and cough are the two most frequent symptoms in tuberculosis patients. Although the death rate among TB patients is not alarming, the treatment success rate of the first treatment attempt is not satisfactory among tuberculosis patients.