Tuberculosis remains a leading cause of mortality,
especially in countries with low socio-economic status. Socio-economic
determinants influence individuals’ health behaviours, access to healthcare
resources, degree of exposure to certain diseases and environmental factors.
The increase in Tuberculosis problem correlates with an increase in countries,
particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where intricate socio-economic factors such
as malnutrition, poverty, homelessness, overcrowding, poor and delayed diagnosis,
and poor drug susceptibility testing procedures are experienced. This study was
carried out to investigate the prevalence of tuberculosis and associated
socio-economic determinants among patients attending Immanuel General Hospital
in Eket, Akwa Ibom State. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 150
patients with presumptive tuberculosis diagnosis within a period of 12 months
at Immanuel General Hospital Eket (IGHE). A structured questionnaire was
administered to consenting patients for the collection of relevant data.
Deep-cough sputum samples were collected from patients who were able to
expectorate and processed according to the standard bacteriological method.
Microscopic detection of acid-fast bacilli was carried out by the Ziehl-Neelsen
method, while Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured in Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ)
medium and colonies identity was further confirmed using the SD BIOLINE rapid
diagnostic test. Data for the study were collected with the aid of a structured
questionnaire and analysed using SPSS software version 27. p-values less than
0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. The confirmed prevalence
of tuberculosis in this study was 27.3%. The infection rate was higher in males
(29.4%) than in females (21.9%) and was significantly associated with age (P =
.02) and employment status (P < .001) of patients. The study found a strong,
significant association between TB prevalence and family size, number of people
sleeping in a room, income level, number of times meals are taken per day, and
previous TB exposure of patients (P ≤ .05). The prevalence of TB is high in
IGHE and is significantly associated with some socioeconomic risk factors. The
findings of this study support the social and economic determinants of health
theory, highlighting the critical role of socio-economic factors in TB
infection. This underscores the urgent need for targeted policy interventions
by relevant government agencies to improve the socio-economic conditions of
residents in Eket.
Author(s) Details
Etang UE
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of
Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria.
Richard RE
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, University
of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.
Akpan NG
Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Allied Health
Sciences, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria.
Etor VU
Department of Histopathology and Cytology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory
Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.
Ntekpere EI
Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, Nigeria.
Dodoru TR
Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovations, College of Health
Sciences, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria.
Michael AA
Department of Histopathology and Cytology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory
Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.
Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/mbrao/v5/6356
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