[Tuberculosis among children and young adults in Emilia-Romagna Region (Northern Italy): surveillance system and integration with socioeconomic data]

Abstract

Objectives: to characterise the cases of tuberculosis (TB) aged 0-24 years reported in Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) Region between 2001 and 2010 through an ecological approach and from a sociodemographic perspective.

Design: observational study on notified TB cases, with data integration and subsequent location through geocoding and ecological deprivation index.

Setting and participants: notification records of TB cases identified by the current surveillance system. Cases were geocoded where address details were available and, through spatial intersection with census block polygons, the related deprivation index (DI) was attributed to them.

Main outcome measures: deprivation index distribution of the observed cases.

Results: in the considered decade, 686 cases of tuberculosis in the age group 0-24 years were reported, 14.5% of the overall number of cases in the Emilia-Romagna Region. The DI was attributed to the 90.4% of cases. Notified TB cases were more frequently located in the most deprived areas.

Conclusions: as other TB international surveillance systems, this study shows that it is possible to locate TB cases, to link them with census data and, therefore, to characterise with socioeconomic information. Looking ahead, the extension of the analysis to all age classes, the updating of socioeconomic data and the use of qualitative methodologies can integrate surveillance system data to better describe the social disadvantage among TB cases.