The Pattern of Tuberculosis in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Despite of the remarkable achievement in control of tuberculosis, it is still a challenging health problem in Iran. Success in any health program depends on monitor the diseases epidemiology and finding the gaps. We aimed to describe the epidemiological profile of TB patients in Iran to find the gaps in the TB program and using the finding to set the program activities. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed based on the data of tuberculosis patients registered in Iran in 2016–2017. The information of all TB patients is registered in the TB registry software. The patients were followed during the treatment phase. The data were analyzed by SPSS 23 software using Chi-Square test. RESULTS: Overall 12% of cases were Afghans and 72.3% of patients had pulmonary tuberculosis. There was a significant difference in the success rate of treatment in smear-positive pulmonary patients by gender, HIV status, marital status, history of hospitalization and incarceration (P <0.01). The highest prevalence of antibiotic resistance was related to isoniazid (9.9%). In close contact persons who requiring prophylaxis, 65.3% of adults and 73.6% of children received full period of prophylaxis, CONCLUSION: Despite of the TB treatment success and low prevalence of MDR cases, TB incidence has not been decreased significantly in Iran. Delay in diagnosis, high TB burden in refugees and close contact investigation and prophylaxis are important issues in the TB control program in Iran to be considered in the control planning.