Magnitude and Associated Factors of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Among HIV/AIDS Patients Attending Antiretroviral Therapy Clinic at Debre Tabor Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) has remained as a top global public health concern of the 21st century. It is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to investigate the magnitude of pulmonary tuberculosis and its associated factors among HIV-positive patients attending antiretroviral treatment (ART) clinic in Debre Tabor specialized hospital, Northwest, Ethiopia. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 362 HIV-positive adult participants attending the ART clinic from October 1st to December 30th 2019. Socio-demographic data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Sputum was collected aseptically into a sterile and leak-proof container. Following aseptic techniques, each sample was processed using the GeneXpert assay based on the manufacturer’s instructions. Similarly, about 3–5 mL of whole blood was drawn for CD4+ T-cell count and plasma viral load tests following standard blood collection procedures. CD4+ T-cell count was performed using the BD FACS caliber flow cytometry while the plasma viral load was performed by using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Then, collected data were double-checked, cleaned and entered into Epi-Info version 7.2.0.1 and exported to SPSS version 20.0 for further statistical analysis. The bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were conducted to address risk factor analysis. The 95%confidence interval with its corresponding cure and adjusted odds ratio was computed. Finally, p-value ≤0.05 was considered as a statistically significant association. RESULTS: In this study, the overall prevalence of tuberculosis among HIV-positive patients was 18 [(5%), 95% CI: 2.8–7.5]. A high viral load (≥1000 copies/mL) was positively associated [AOR (95% CI: 6.4 (1.6–25.7)), p < 0.001] with developing tuberculosis among HIV-positive patients. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of TB is low among ART-receiving patients in our study site.