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. 2018 Mar 24;7(1):26.
doi: 10.1186/s40249-018-0407-6.

Prevalence of and risk factors for tuberculosis among healthcare workers in Chinese tuberculosis facilities

Xiao-Ning Wang  1   2 , Tian-Lun He  3 , Meng-Jie Geng  4 , Yu-Dan Song  1 , Ji-Chun Wang  1 , Min Liu  1   5 , Sarah Jayne Hoosdally  6 , Ana Luíza Gibertoni Cruz  6 , Fei Zhao  7 , Yu Pang  8 , Yan-Lin Zhao  8 , Guang-Xue He  9
Affiliations

Prevalence of and risk factors for tuberculosis among healthcare workers in Chinese tuberculosis facilities

Xiao-Ning Wang et al. Infect Dis Poverty. .

Abstract

Background: China is one of 22 countries with a high tuberculosis (TB) burden in the world. Healthcare workers (HCWs) have a high risk of contracting Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection due to insufficient infection control practices. We conducted a cross-sectional study to explore the prevalence of TB and its associated risk factors among HCWs in Chinese TB facilities.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-one TB facilities employing a total of 9663 HCWs were selected from 12 provinces in China to represent healthcare settings at the provincial, prefectural, and county levels. Structured questionnaires were used to collect information on TB infection control practices and HCWs in those facilities. Data was double entered into EpiData 3.1; TB prevalence and associated risk factors were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 with bivariate and multivariate regression models.

Results: The results showed that 71 HCWs had been diagnosed with TB, accounting for a prevalence of 760/100 000. The multivariate analysis showed that associated risk factors included belonging to the age group of 51 years and above (aOR: 6.17, 95% CI: 1.35-28.28), being a nurse (aOR = 3.09, 95% CI: 1.15-8.32), implementation of 0-9 items of management measures (aOR = 2.57, 95% CI: 1.37-4.80), and implementation of 0-1 items of ventilation measures (aOR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.31-4.47).

Conclusion: This was the first national large sampling survey on TB prevalence among HCWs in China. It was found that the implementation of TB infection control practices in some facilities was poor. The TB prevalence in HCWs was higher than that in the general population. Therefore, TB infection control practices in Chinese medical facilities should be strengthened.

Keywords: China; Healthcare workers; Prevalence; Risk factors; Tuberculosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Our study was approved by the Chinese Tuberculosis Research Institutional Review Board for TB Operational Research (approval notice: NO.002). Official representatives of healthcare facilities were briefed about the study. All participants were adult HCWs and provided written informed consent, after being explained the purpose of the research, collection of information, and use of data for publishing. All information obtained served exclusively for the purposes of this analysis. Data were kept confidentially and questionnaires were disposed of appropriately after the research.

Consent for publication

Written informed consent was obtained from the participants for the publication of this paper.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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