Prevalence of Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Associated Factors among Prisoners in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia: Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background: prisoners are at a disproportionately high risk and neglected reservoirs and susceptible population for TB. Objective: To determine prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis and associated factors among prisoners in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was performed on 302 study participants to assess the prevalence and risk factors of pulmonary tuberculosis among prisoners in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia, from March01/2015 to April 01/2015. Prisoners with a history of cough of ⩾2 weeks were screened for PTB using direct smear microscopy. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data on risk factors of pulmonary tuberculosis. Bivariate and multivariable binary Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of pulmonary tuberculosis. Result: A total of 302 prisoners were included in the study. Among those, 15 (4.97%) prisoners were found to have TB giving a point prevalence of 966 per 100,000 populations of pulmonary TB among the study participants. Pulmonary tuberculosis was significantly associated with cigarette smoking (AOR=5.42, 95%CI= (1.21, 24.25), having history of contact with known TB patients at home (AOR=7.01, 95%CI= (1.54, 31.90), Sharing a cell with a known TB patient (AOR=7.09, 95%CI= (1.59, 31.64), stay greater than 24 months in current prison (AOR=0.09, 95%CI= (0.02,0.47). and BMI Conclusions and recommendation : There is high prevalence of TB among Prisoners in Wolaita Zone with possible active transmission of TB within the prison than general community. Strong cooperation between prison authorities and the national tuberculosis control programmers is urgently required to develop locally appropriate interventions to reduce transmission.