A Four-Year Hospital-Based Retrospective Study of the Predictors of Tuberculosis in People Living with HIV and Receiving Care at Bamenda Regional Hospital, Cameroon

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) co-infections place immense burdens on healthcare systems with particularly diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. TB is high among opportunistic diseases and the most leading cause of death among patients with HIV/AIDS. HIV infection is the most-known risk factor for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and progression to active disease, which increases the risk of latent TB reactivation by 20-fold. We present a four-year descriptive analysis of TB in people living with HIV in the Bamenda Regional Hospital (BRH) from 2012-2016. METHODS: This was a hospital-based descriptive chart review. We conducted manual reviews of medical records of HIV/TB co-infected patients from June 2017-July 2017 at BRH’s AIDS Treatment Centre, North West region of Cameroon. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of cases were captured using a pre-tested data collection sheet and analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 25. RESULTS: Out of the 1078 HIV patients, 36.5% (393) of them were diagnosed with TB; 75% (808) of the People living with HIV (PLWHIV) were active; among the remaining 25%, 10.2% were bedridden, 13.0% were jobless, and 1.8% were retired. The greater proportion of the participants were females 65.5% (705). CONCLUSION AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: The baseline anemia, smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, detectable (≥50copies/mL), CD4 count ≤ 200cells/µl and gender of the PLWHIV were associated with the incidence of TB. We recommend early diagnosis and treatment of anemia, modification of patient’s lifestyle, and strengthening of immunization programs to reduce the risk of TB occurrence among HIV-infected people.