TABLE 2.
Sociodemographic and disease-related characteristics of foreign born-patients
| Characteristic | Asylum seekers (n = 108) | Non-asylum seekers (n = 226) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (yr [mean ± SD]) | 30.7 ± 15.4 | 40.2 ± 15.6 | <0.001 |
| Males (no. [%]) | 68 (63.0) | 148 (65.5) | NSa |
| Females (no. [%]) | 40 (37.0) | 78 (34.5) | |
| Latency (wk) from entry to disease (mean ± SD) | 125.8 ± 197.4 | 460.5 ± 467.0 | <0.001 |
| Latency without cases found at entry (mean ± SD) | 182.6 ± 218.9 | ||
| Clustered patients (no. [%] of patients) | 40 (37.0) | 46 (20.4) | 0.001 |
| Latency (wk) from entry to disease for clustered patients (mean ± SD) | 219.1 ± 280.8 | 556.1 ± 449.9 | <0.001 |
| Patient delay (wk)b | 6.5 ± 5.2 | 4.9 ± 3.1 | 0.009 |
| Contacts (no. [mean ± SD]) | 8.0 ± 10.8 | 6.0 ± 7.9 | NS |
| Prospectively known contacts with disease (no. of contacts with disease/total no.) | 6/868 | 8/1,359 | NS |
| No. (%) of patients with: | |||
| AIDS | 4 (3.7) | 14 (6.2) | NS |
| Resistance to any drug | 14 (13.0) | 21 (9.3) | NS |
| Drug abuse | 14 (13.0) | 9 (4.0) | 0.002 |
| Ethanol dependence | 7 (2.1) | 42 (12.6) | 0.003 |
| Pulmonary TB | 97 (89.8) | 208 (92.0) | NS |
| Sputum smear positive | 38 (35.2) | 93 (41.1) | NS |
| Previous history of TB | 15 (13.9) | 33 (9.9) | NS |
| Background of diagnosis | |||
| Screening at entry (no. [%] of patients) | 31 (28.7) | ||
| Symptomatic diseasec | 71/77 (92.2) | 203 (89.8) | NS |
| Contact tracingc | 3/77 (3.9) | 4 (1.8) | NS |
| Othersc | 3/77 (3.9) | 19 (8.4) | NS |
| Predisposition (no. [%] of patients) | 5 (4.6) | 22 (9.7) | NS |
a
NS, not significant.
b
Latent period between the retrospectively determined onset of symptoms and the establishment of diagnostic procedures.
c
Values represent number of patients with the indicated background/total number of patients (percent) for asylum seekers and number (percent) of patients for non-asylum seekers.