TABLE 3.
Culture status of paediatric tuberculosis (TB) cases in Alberta by demographic and clinical characteristics, 1990–2014
| Characteristics | Total | Culture specimen | p-value# | OR (95% CI) | |
| Negative | Positive | ||||
| Cases | 168 | 90 (54) | 78 (46) | ||
| Age years | 0.01 | ||||
| <5 | 71 | 46 (65) | 25 (35) | 1 | |
| 5–14 | 97 | 44 (45) | 53 (55) | 2.21 (1.16–4.21) | |
| Sex | 0.23 | ||||
| Female | 93 | 46 (50) | 47 (51) | 1 | |
| Male | 75 | 44 (59) | 31 (41) | 0.69 (0.37–1.27) | |
| Population group | 0.20 | ||||
| CBO-CB | 15 | 9 (60) | 6 (40) | 1 | |
| CBO-FB | 40 | 24 (60) | 16 (40) | 1.00(0.30–3.36) | |
| RFN | 54 | 32 (59) | 22 (41) | 0.97(0.30–3.11) | |
| FB | 59 | 25(42) | 34(58) | 0.49(0.15–1.56) | |
| Disease site | 0.02 | ||||
| Pulmonary | 136 | 79 (58) | 57 (42) | 1 | |
| Extrapulmonary | 32 | 11 (34) | 21 (66) | 0.38 (0.17–0.85) | |
| Method of detection | <0.001 | ||||
| Symptoms | 58 | 19 (33) | 39 (67) | 1 | |
| Contact tracing¶ | 101 | 69 (68) | 32 (32) | 0.22 (0.11–0.45) | |
| Other screening+ | 9 | 2 (22) | 7 (78) | 1.71 (0.32–9.01) | |
Data are presented as n or n (%), unless otherwise stated. CBO-CB: Canadian-born “other” with Canadian-born parents; CBO-FB: Canadian-born “other” with foreign-born parents; RFN: registered First Nations; FB: foreign born; OR: odds ratio (crude and unadjusted for any other variables in the table). #: Pearson's Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test if cells contain values <5. ¶: of the 101 children whose method of detection was contact tracing and who had one or more specimens submitted for culture, 85 had primary pulmonary TB complex alone (see figure 3). Of these only 22 (25.9%) were culture-positive. +: other screening includes immigration medical evaluations, international adoptee screening and incidental findings.