Prevalence and associated factors of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis and multi-drug resistance tuberculosis among homeless individuals in Dessie and Debre Birhan towns, Northeast Ethiopia

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the globe’s deadliest communicable diseases. The homeless individuals are at high risk to acquire TB and multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), because of their poor living conditions and risky behaviors. Tuberculosis and MDR-TB in the homeless individuals can pose a risk to entire communities. However, the magnitude of the problem in Ethiopia is not yet determined.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of smear positive pulmonary TB (PTB) and MDR-TB among homeless individuals in Dessie and Debre Birhan towns, Northeast Ethiopia.
Materials and Methods: A community based cross-sectional study design was conducted from February to April 2015. Using an active screening with cough of ≥ 2 weeks, 351 TB suspects homeless individuals were participated in this study. Data were collected by using pre-tested and structured questionnaire. Spot-morning-spot sputum sample were collected and examined for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) using florescence microscopy by Auramine O staining technique. All AFB positive sputum was further analyzed by GeneXpert for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and rifampicin resistant gene. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were applied to identify factors associated with smear positive PTB and P-value <0.05 were considered as statistically significant