Risk Factors for Tuberculosis in 88 Patients Admitted to Firoozgar Hospital

Among infectious diseases, tuberculosis(TB) is the second leading cause of death worldwide, killing nearly 2 million people each year. Defining high-risk groups(IDUs= Injection Drug Users), cases of diabetes mellitus(DM), and those having close contact with TB patients) is vital in terms of diagnosis, prevention, and control programs. The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of risk factors for tuberculosis. Patients and We conducted an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. All the files concerning TB patients who were admitted to Firoozgar Hospital between 2002 and 2004 were evaluated. The designed questionnaire contained information about age, sex, nationality, history of smoking, HIV infection, close contact with TB patients, DM, chronic renal failure(CRF), lymphoma, leukemia, and immunosuppressive therapy like glucocorticoid. Statistical analysis was done via SPSS software version 15. Frequency, mean and standard deviation were defined. Among these 8 patients, the most frequent risk factor was smoking(20.45%) followed by DM(10.22%), close contact(7.95%), IDU(6.81%), CRF(3.4%), HIV infection(2.27%), and leukemia(1.13%). The present study may have shown the marked effects of risk factors on acquiring tuberculosis, so the identification of TB infection in these high-risk groups is very important.