Tuberculosis and its Associated Factors in Mwea West Sub-County, Kirinyaga County, Kenya

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the oldest diseases known to affect humans and a major cause of mortalitiy worldwide. It is a global public health concern with majority of cases occurring in the world's poorest nations. In the year 2012, 89,568 cases of Tuberculosis (TB) were reported in Kenya. Using this figure, World health Organization ranked the country 15th out of 22 countries with high TB burden Objective of this study was to establish prevalence and risk factors associated with this disease in Mwea West of Kirinyaga County, Kenya. Data was obtained from patients seen at eight heath facilities in Mwea Sub County. Using a descriptive cross-sectional study applying quantitative meth- ods. Result showed that approximately 80% of the respondents had ever suf- fered from TB with 17% and 3% reporting that they had contracted the disease twice and more than twice respectively. Additionally, 40% of the respondents reported that at least one of their family members had contracted TB. HIV/ AIDS infection was conspicuously present in over 70% of respondents with TB. Risk factors identified included smoking 50%, alcohol abuse 62% and low knowledge on TB transmission. Health promotion interventions aimed at be- havior modification should be scaled up and an analytical study to determine the relationships between social demographics and prevalence should be car- ried out.