Are Shopkeepers Suffering from Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

BACKGROUND: Despite several interventions, tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a major public health concern in developing countries. OBJECTIVE: To determine pulmonary TB prevalence and associated factors among shopkeepers in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 among 520 shopkeepers who had TB signs and symptoms using questionnaire interview and sputum samples processing. Shopkeepers were considered TB positive if two sputum slides became positive. Data were edited and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors. RESULTS: A total of 520 shopkeepers were interviewed and gave sputum samples. About 256 (49.2%) of them were under the ≤30 years' age category, 22.0% can read and write, 65.0% were Muslims, and 32.0% originated from rural areas. Pulmonary TB prevalence was 7.0% (37/520), and positivity proportion was 57.0% (21/37) in males and 70.0% (26/37) in urban residents. Smaller (44.0%) shopkeepers got health education on TB. Illiteracy, no health education, contact history, cigarette smoking, nonventilated shops, and comorbidities were factors to TB infection (p value < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Significant numbers of shopkeepers were infected by TB. Factors to TB infection were either personal or related to comorbidities or the environment. Therefore, TB officials need to specially emphasize awareness creation, occupational health, and early screening to prevent TB.