Epidemiological, Clinical and Paraclinical Study of the Reported Cases of Tuberculosis in Qaemshahr (2010-2017)

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic, life-threatening, and contagious infectious. This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical findings of TB in Qaemshahr.
Material and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, we investigated all patients with TB who had registered and existing data from 2010 to 2017. Demographical data, clinical and paraclinical characteristics including family history of disease, disease type (pulmonary and extrapulmonary), smear and culture results, underlying disease, chest X-ray results were extracted from records. Data were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 22.
Results: Out of 290 patients, 61.4% were male (178 cases), and 38.6% (112 cases) were female. The mean age was 21.75 ± 21.25 years. 70.7% were pulmonary, and 29.3% were extrapulmonary. 60.3% were in urban areas and 39.7% in rural areas. The largest organ involved was lung (70.7%). 95.5% were diagnosed as new. The smear was negative in 53.8% of patients. 44.8% of patients were smear-positive. The culture result was positive in 54.5% of patients with TB. In the case of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), smear, 11.7% of patients had a positive result. The negative result of BAL smear was observed in 88.3% of cases.
Conclusion: Awareness of various forms and clinical symptoms, radiographic findings in people with TB help to early detection of the disease.