Spatial association of socio-economic status and prevalence of Tuberculosis in Nepal, 2019

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable disease. Nepal is a developing country which is still fighting against poverty and many communicable diseases including TB. Although many studies have explored the TB and its associated factors, there are very rare studies addressing the spatial association of TB with associated factors. Hence, this study aims to find out the spatial association of socio-economic status and prevalence of tuberculosis in Nepal in the year 2019. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out by utilizing the data set available from National Tuberculosis Control Center Nepal in the year 2019. A Moran’s I and Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) were used to identify the spatial autocorrelation between TB and associated factors in Nepal. Results: The results indicated the spatial autocorrelation between TB and socio-economic factors in Nepal. The LISA analysis identified the significant positive spatial local autocorrelation of Night Time Light with 8 high-high and 8 low-low districts, Land Surface Temperature Day with 12 high-high and 5 low-low districts, Land Surface Temperature Night with 12 high-high and 5 low-low districts, Population Density with 7 high-high and 8 low-low districts, Urban Area with 7 high-high and 8 low-low districts, Wall with Cement Stone with 11 high-high and 8 low-low districts, Roof with Reinforced Cement Concrete with 10 high-high and 8 low-low districts, like wise Fuel Liquefied Petroleum Gas with 9 high-high and 8 low-low districts respectively. Conclusion: There were significant spatial associations between prevalence of tuberculosis and socio-economic status in Nepal in the year 2019, which should be addressed by new policy recommendations to detect the tuberculosis cases and possible associated factors to minimize the burden of TB in significant way.