Prevalence and Associated Factors of Tuberculosis among Adult Household Contacts of Smear Positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Treated in Public Health Facilities of Haramaya District, Oromia Region, Eastern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND

Tuberculosis is an infectious airborne disease caused by . It still remains a major public health problem which affects all age groups. Risk of exposure is higher in household contact than members of the general population.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of tuberculosis among adult household contacts of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis in Haramaya district, Oromia Region, Eastern Ethiopia from February to March, 2019.

METHOD

A community based cross-sectional study design was conducted. A total of 454 study participants were selected using systematic sampling method from all adult household contacts of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients treated from July 2017 to December 2018. Data were collected using a pretested and structured questionnaire; and laboratory examination was processed using fluorescent smear microscope. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with the infection of pulmonary tuberculosis and a statistically significant association was declared at -value < 0.05.

RESULT

The overall prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among adult household contacts was 7.8% (95% CI: 5.8-10.0). The risk factors for tuberculosis infection among household contacts were eating meals less than three times per day (AOR = 4.31; 95% CI: 1.61, 11.55), drinking raw milk (AOR = 4.12; 95% CI: 1.43, 11.90), having family history of tuberculosis with more than one index case (AOR = 2.7; 95% CI: 1.02, 6.92), living in poor ventilated houses (AOR = 4.02; 95% CI: 1.38, 11.76), and living in inadequate size of living room (AOR = 3.4; 95% CI: 1.30, 8.86).

CONCLUSION

In this study, the prevalence of tuberculosis among adult household contacts of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis is high. Eating meals less than three times per day, drinking raw milk, living in poor ventilated houses, and inadequate sizes of the rooms were identified as contributing factors. Therefore, we recommend that the transmission of tuberculosis can potentially be reduced by a better contact tracing and treatment strategies along with appropriate health education.