Association of Risk Factors and Drug Resistance Pattern in Tuberculosis Patients in North India

CONTEXT: India is one of the high tuberculosis (TB) burden countries in the world. Improper implementation in the guidelines for the management of TB and high rate of defaults on the part of the patients are most important risk factors for the development of multi-drug resistant TB. AIMS: This study examines the drug resistance profile and the effect of demographic, clinical and behavioral risk factors on the prevalence of TB and multidrug resistance (MDR) in north India. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a prospective, observational study carried out from May 2012 to February 2014 in tertiary care hospital of Varanasi. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study was performed on 721 pulmonary and extrapulmonary specimens of suspected TB patients based on history, was subjected for the Ziehl–Neelsen staining and culture on Lowenstein–Jensen (LJ) media. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The features of groups were compared by Chi-square (χ(2)) and odds ratio. RESULTS: Out of 721 clinically suspected pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB patients, 222 (30.8%) patients were smear positive for acid-fast bacilli and 244 (38.3%) were positive for Mycobacterium species cultured on LJ medium. The prevalence of resistance to at least one anti-TB drug was 71.1% and MDR was 53.5%. Age, gender, HIV status, nature of TB, smoking, and alcohol consumption risk factors were significantly associated with TB prevalence; while prior history of TB infection, pervious household exposure, smoking, and alcohol consumption were significantly associated with MDR. CONCLUSION: This study showed a high prevalence of drug resistance TB in this region. It also provides evidence in our circumstance, of the role of prior history of TB infection, alcohol and smoking in increasing the risk of developing TB and MDR-TB. Therefore, it is necessary for the public health community to incorporate and strengthen alcohol and smoking nonparticipation interference in TB control program.