Human Immune Deficiency Virus Co-infection among Tuberculosis Patients in Kamba Woreda, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: The synergetic impact of HIV and TB co-epidemic has challenged the weak healthcare systems in resource-limited settings, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia. In 2013, 1.1 million (13%) of the 9.0 million people who developed TB worldwide were HIV-positive, 78% of whom were living in the African region. The prevalence of HIV coinfection among TB patients in Ethiopia showed variations by study areas and settings, ranging from 11.4% in Dabat district to 44.8% in Debre Markos referral hospital. Therefore, this study aims to assess the prevalence of HIV co-infection and associated factors among TB patients in Kamba woreda, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: Retrospective cross sectional study design was implemented to analyze the profile of 745 TB patients registered from Jan 2009 to Dec 2014 (Sep 2001 up to Nov 23/2007E.C). The retrieved data from TB log books by data abstraction form was entered in to Epi Info version 3.53 and cleaned using frequency and two-by-two tables. Analysis was done using SPSS version 20.0 by doing descriptive statistics and both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: The mean age of 745 TB patients at the start of their anti-TB treatment was 31.14yrs (SD= 13.68yrs). The proportion of male to female was 51.3% vs. 48.9%. Out of 678 (91.01%) TB patients tested for HIV 47 (6.93%) were positive. Higher HIV positivity was observed among age group 30-39 [AOR= 2.60; 95% CI (1.06, 6.39); P= 0.04], urban residents [AOR= 18.30; 95% CI (8.19, 40.88); P= 0.00] and smear negative pulmonary TB patients [AOR= 4.43; 95% CI (2.05, 9.56); P= 0.00]. Conclusion and Recommendations: Compared to other studies conducted recently, the HIV coinfection prevalence in this study was very low. While age group 30-39, urban residence and smear negative pulmonary TB were factors associated with high HIV co-infection in TB patients. With respect to identified HIV co-infection predictors, strengthening the prevention intervention to the younger age and urban population in HIV control program was recommended.