Prevalence of Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Associated Factors Among HIV Positive Patients Attending Antiretroviral Therapy Clinic at Arba Minch General Hospital, Southern Ethiopia

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is an extremely contagious disease detrimentally affecting virtually every organ, most importantly the lungs. Pulmonary complications have been one of the commonest causes of morbidity and mortality since the advent of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) pandemic. The AIDS virus has considerably reshape the epidemiology of TB by widening the risk of reactivating latent TB, increasing the possibility of TB infection once contracted to tubercle bacilli (re-infection) and by elevating the risk of rapid progression instantly after the infection. In this background, this study is intended to understand the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis and associated factors amongst Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive patients attending antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinic in Arba Minch General hospital during the study period (March to May, 2016).

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at Arba Minch Hospital from March to May, 2016. To assess the associated factors, a pre-tested structured questionnaire has been used. Sputum samples were collected and examined microscopically by using acid fast staining. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Services, version 20.

Results: Totally, 291 HIV positive patients were included in this study of which 71.5% were females and 28.5% were males. It was found that 42.3% of respondents were in the age ranged between 31-40 years. Of the 291 patients screened, 21 were positively diagnosed with pulmonary TB making the overall prevalence rate of 7.2%. From this study, it was revealed that CD4 count, previous history of tuberculosis and smoking were the significant predictors of tuberculosis (p˂0.05) in HIV patients.

Conclusion: The results of the present study envisaged that the prevalence of HIV/TB co-infection was 7.2%. Previous history of TB, CD4 count less than 200/μl, and smoking habit were the possible risk factors elucidated. Therefore, TB screening among HIV-positive patients, public awareness, and community mobilization should be encouraged.