Socio-demographic and Environmental Factors Affecting the Prevalence and Spread of Tuberculosis in South West Region of Cameroon

Aims: To carry out a household based study in the South West Region of Cameroon to evaluate the effects of selected environmental and social factors affecting the prevalence and spread of tuberculosis.

Study Design: This study was a cross-sectional one.

Place and Duration of Study: From May to September 2006, a team of 6 including 2 laboratory technicians and one nurse visited 309 randomly selected households in five different localities within Fako Division.

Methodology: Three major overcrowded and two major affluent quarters peculiar for high and low TB prevalence respectively were visited. We used a standard questionnaire to get demographic information. A poverty index based on type of toilet, salary scale, educational level and number of persons sleeping in a room was calculated. Sputum samples were collected from 1000 participants in 309 household and Mycobacterium tuberculosis identified by the standard Ziehl Nelsen staining technique.

Results: The overall prevalence of TB was 3% (30/1000). A significantly higher prevalence (1.62%) was recorded in individuals with primary level of education when compared with the prevalence rate (0.20%) for those with tertiary education (p=0.034) TB prevalence was significantly higher in people who earned between $100-200/month compared with those who earned >$200 (p<0.0001). A significant majority of TB positive patients (16, 53.33%) had never been vaccinated compared with those vaccinated (p<0.0001). Polygamists recorded the highest TB prevalence (12.37%) compared with monogamists (3.56%) and singles (0.93%) (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: Illiteracy and polygamy were some of the social factors significantly related to TB in our study. These findings would be used in redesigning strategies for effective control of TB in the study areas.