Epidemiological profile of Tuberculosis in Sinazongwe District in the context of HIV/AIDS

Abstract

A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Sinazongwe district located in the Zambezi valley region in Southern Province of Zambia to determine the prevalence of HIV among TB patients, examine trends and patterns of tuberculosis progression from 2007 to 2012 and compared treatment outcome of HIV positive and HIV negative TB patients. A total of 484 TB patient clinical files from Sinazongwe Zonal Health Center (SZHC) were randomly selected for inclusion into the study. SPSS version 16.0 was used to analyse this data. Tuberculosis was more prevalent in males 52% (95% CI: 48.0 -56.9) than females 47.5% (95% CI: 43.1 -52.0). The mean prevalence of HIV among TB patients in the reference period was 62% (95% CI: 54.3 – 64.6). HIV was more prevalent among female TB patients at 52.7% (95% CI: 46.6 -58.9). There was no statistically significant variations in the annual enrolment rate of new TB cases in the period under review (χ2=6.3 and p-value 0.076). HIV/AIDS accounted for about 15% of treatment outcomes of TB patients at SZHC (F1, 298 =4.39, p < 0.037) by lowering cure rate (p = 0.023) whilst increasing death (p= 0.039) and defaulter rates (0.035). Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a very important factor influencing tuberculosis treatment outcome at Sinazongwe Health Facility. The study concluded that high HIV prevalence among TB patients at this facility was the main reason for low TB cure rate, and high mortality rate with no statistical variations in the disease progression across the years. If the situation is not controlled, the trend of low cure rate and high mortality will be maintained resulting into undesirable treatment outcomes in this study population. Therefore, it is recommended that Ministry of Health should consider employing the rapid automated Nucleic Acid Amplification Test to improve diagnosis on TB among HIV patients and strength the Direct Observed Therapy through health education and sensitization