THE THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN WHO CLINICAL STAGE AND OTHER RISK FACTORS WITH PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS AMONG PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Objective: To estimate the Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) prevalence among the participants/People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) and to verify the association between WHO clinical staging and other risk factors with PTB. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the PTB prevalence. Probable associated risk factors in PLWHAs with and without PTB were compared. The association between WHO clinical staging and other risk factors with PTB was investigated using bivariate analysis. A p-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: This study was conducted from January 2018 to December 2019, recruited about 584 participants with presumptive PTB and 20.72% (121) confirmed with PTB. In the bivariate analysis; participants who are on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Stage 4 (WHO clinical staging) were significantly more likely to develop PTB (p=0.000). PTB was significantly higher among male than female (p=0.000), higher among the older (p=0.030). PTB was significantly more frequent among participants with lower cluster differentiation 4 (CD4) cell counts (p=0.042). A contact history with a Tuberculosis (TB) patient was an important risk factor (p=0.000). PTB was significantly associated with smoking history (p=0.000). Conclusion: A high PTB prevalence was observed. There was a significantly association between the severity of WHO clinical staging, sex, age, lower CD4 cell count, a contact history with a tuberculosis (TB) patient and smoking history with PTB among PLWHAs.