Morbidity by tuberculosis in the Jiu Valley: relation with diagnostic practice and the impact on therapeutic results

BACKGROUND AND AIM: In the last two and a half decades the dynamics of tuberculosis has been modelled by social and economic conditions, with consequences on the life style, and effects on the onset and evolution of the disease. The Jiu Valley is an area with social problems: mining, mines closing down and ceasing activity, poverty. We looked for a relationship between changes of life style in the Jiu Valley and the dynamics of tuberculosis. METHODS: We studied 528 patients who asked for medical services in different hospitals in the Jiu Valley between 2010–2013. We structurally characterized this group, we identified the characteristics of life style, and we assessed the health state, in particular the relation with tuberculosis. RESULTS: We found out that the quality of life was influenced by the health state, especially by tuberculous disease. Quality of life was influenced by the life style, professional factors and their long term consequences. The study evidenced a strong relationship between apparently very different factors such as life style, professional factors on one side and those characterizing tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS: We report the first detailed epidemiological data on tuberculosis in an economically poor area, the Jiu Valley.