PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS OF TUBERCULOSIS (TB) AMONG PATIENTS IN WARDER HOSPITAL, WARDER TOWN, ETHIOPIAN SOMALI REGIONAL STATE

Tuberculosis is one of the widely occurring infectious diseases and it is the leading cause of death in the Ethiopian Somali regional state including Dollo zone, Warder town. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of pulmonary TB and its associated risk factors among TB patients in Warder Hospital, Warder Town, Ethiopian Somali Regional State, A retrospective study based on five years data of TB patients (2012-2016) was employed. Purposeful sampling technique was used to select the study participants. A cross sectional study was conducted among 422 TB suspected patients visiting Warder Hospital from October - December 2016. Sputum sample were collected and examined following standard national guideline for diagnosis of TB using direct Ziehl – Nelson staining techniques. Pretested structured questionnaire was employed to collect data on associated risk factors for PTB. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were employed to identify risk factors associated with pulmonary tuberculosis. A total of 1482 all forms of TB patients were registered during the last five years (2012 to 2016) in Warder Hospital. Based on retrospective study, the number in PTB patients were higher (74.1%) than that of EPTB (25.9%). Males and the productive age group were highly affected in the study area. The prevalence of smear-positive PTB of the current study by cross sectional was 9.7%. Factors significantly associated with smear-positive PTB were age, marital status, having close contact history with TB patients chat chewing and smoking cigarette. Overall, in this study, the high prevalence of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis in the area suggested the need for strict intervention and intensification of health education to prevent the spread of the disease and to create awareness on risk factors contributing to the infection. Hence proper implementation of DOTS and a regular checkup of TB among TB suspects is important to minimize the burden of the disease and to control the transmission rate in the area.