Risk factors for drug resistant tuberculosis in southeast Turkey

Abstract

SUMMARY We undertook a cross-sectional survey of 116 patients at Dicle Hospital, Turkey, who had with bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis (TB). Demographic and clinical features, including age, gender, pulmonary TB history, associated diabetes mellitus, previous TB treatment, residential area and education, were collected from charts. Eighty-four of the strains were found to be susceptible to all drugs. The resistance to one or more drug(s) was found in 32 strains. Multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB was found in 13 strains (11.3% of the total and 40.7% of the drug resistant strains). The resistance to isoniazid was the most frequently seen (25 strains, 21.5%). In the multivariable analysis, only previous TB treatment ( P = 0.000) remained a significant predictor for drug resistance; in MDR, previous TB treatments ( P = 0.002) remained significant in the final model. The patient's educational status was found to be negatively correlated with the risk of MRD-TB ( P = 0.035). Previous TB treatment and low educational status were found to important risk factors for the development of MDR-TB.