Incidence of sputum positive tuberculosis among patients admitted in tertiary care hospital

Background: Tuberculosis is a serious disorder, unlike many other diseases seen in adults and elderly, tuberculosis is curable if treated early. The study was conducted to identify sputum positive tuberculosis incidence rates in TB patients.
Methods: A retrospective study based on record review was conducted at tuberculosis and chest department (TBCD). Clinical profile and sputum examination results for a period of 1 year in between Apr 2017- Mar 2018 of patients aged between 14 to 99 years were included in the study.
Results: Among 2605 patients, who visited TBCD, 55 patients were aged between 14 to 20 years and 2019 were aged between 20-59 years. Among 2019 middle age group patients, 501 were positive for Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) and 1518 were sputum negative. The incidence of middle age group tuberculosis patients was predominant in 1245 males (61.66%) than 774 females (38.33%). Among 531 old age patients, 107 were AFB positive and 424 were sputum negative. The incidence of old age group tuberculosis patients was predominant in 404 males (76.08%) than 127 females (23.91%). Proportion of smear positive PTB was 23.84% in TB patients and smear negative was 76.16%.
Conclusion: High incidence rates and increasing time trend of tuberculosis in adults & elderly is a serious problem, especially among those aged 30-65 years. The physicians need to have a high catalogue of idea for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.