Incidence and assessment of demography-related risk factors associated with pulmonary tuberculosis in Saudi Arabia: A retrospective analysis

Background & Objectives: Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health challenge and is endemic in many countries including Saudi Arabia. The disease is a major health concern in the Kingdom because of its dynamic population as resident expatriates are mainly from high TB burdened countries and the mass influx of pilgrims every year in peak seasons for Umrah and Hajj. The objective of the current study was to evaluate pulmonary TB incidence rates and conclude the potential high-risk patients to highlight the burdened regions in Saudi Arabia for the health authorities, which could help to establish policies of infection control as necessary.

Methods: We retrospectively investigated the incidence of pulmonary TB data reported by the ministry of health (MOH) in 2018. We analyzed pulmonary TB incidence data by nationality, age, gender, and region using Chi-square test to identify demography-related risk factors associated with pulmonary TB and its significance.

Results: The results indicated that the incidence of pulmonary TB was significantly higher in males than in females in both Saudi and non-Saudi nationals; the number of cases was particularly high in major cities. Also, infections were mainly associated with certain age groups that were different between the Saudi and non-Saudi nationals.

Conclusion: TB control seems to be facing some challenges in several regions of the Kingdom, particularly major cities. National TB Control Program (NTP) needs to continually evaluate official data to spot high risk groups and factors associated with increased incidence. This will help to improve TB control strategies to contain the disease and approaches its eradication.