Hamzaullah Khan, Aminul Haq, Ghulam Sarwar.
Study of environmental risk factors for pulmonary tuberculosis in Peshawar.
Pak J Pathol Jan ;17(3):119-21.

Objectives: To assess the environmental risk factors for pulmonary tuberculosis in Peshawar. Study Design: Cross sectional observational study. Setting: Medical department, Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), Peshawar. Duration: From August 2004 to November 2005. Patients and Methods: A total of 156 patients, 87 males and 69 females, with clinical diagnosis of the disease, confirmed on sputum smear microscopy were selected. Relevant information was recorded with the help of a pre-designed questionnaire, prepared in accordance with the objectives of the study. Results: The age range of the patients was from 8 years to 86 years with an average age of 47.5 years. A total of 102(65.38%) patients had positive family history of the disease. Eighty-four (53.84%) patients were from social class, with income less than 5000/month. Pulmonary tuberculosis was recorded in 142(91.02%) patients. Eight patients had developed tuberculosis meningitis and six patients had developed TB of bones (Potts disease). Reactivation of tuberculosis was recorded in 29(21.79%) patients. Conclusion: The main risk factors observed in the respondents were positive family history of the disease, housing conditions, over crowding, joint families, poverty and ignoring DOTS strategy for treatment.

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