Table 5.
Incidence rate of tuberculosis and univariate analysis of associated factors in PLHIV attending at all national and regional referral hospitals in Eritrea followed up between November 1, 2014 and November 1, 2020 (N = 6803)
| Variables | Incident TB cases (n = 112) | Incidence rate per 1000 person-years | Crude rate ratio (95% CI) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exposure to IPT | ||||
| Unexposed | 68 | 10.0 (7.89, 12.69) | 6.04 (4.08, 9.04) | < 0.001 |
| Exposed | 44 | 1.66 (1.23, 2.22) | Ref | |
| Age (years) | ||||
| < 16 | 13 | 5.07 (2.94, 8.74) | 2.02 (0.62,8.49) | 0.318 |
| 16–59 | 95 | 3.25 (2.66, 3.98) | 1.29 (0.49,4.84) | 0.820 |
| ≥ 60 | 4 | 2.25 (0.94, 6.70) | Ref | |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 59 | 4.89 (3.62, 5.42) | 1.96 (1.33–2.90) | < 0.001 |
| Male | 53 | 2.24 (5.87, 8.92) | Ref | |
| Residence$ | ||||
| Rural | 29 | 3.69 (2.57, 5.31) | 1.15 (0.72–1.77) | 0.504 |
| Urban | 81 | 3.22 (2.59, 4.00) | Ref | |
| History of smoking$,¥ | ||||
| Yes | 8 | 5.33 (2.66, 10.665) | 1.76 (0.73, 3.65) | 0.147 |
| No | 74 | 3.03 (2.41, 3.80) | Ref | |
| History of regular alcohol use$,¥ | ||||
| Yes | 7 | 7.96 (3.79, 16.70) | 2.75 (1.07, 5.97) | 0.018 |
| No | 70 | 3.10 (2.50, 3.84) | Ref | |
| History of malnutrition$ | ||||
| Yes | 6 | 29.00 (13.02, 64.53) | 9.30 (3.33, 20.96) | < 0.001 |
| No | 101 | 3.12 (2.56, 3.78) | Ref | |
| History of imprisonment$,¥ | ||||
| Yes | 8 | 8.01 (4.00, 16.0) | 2.48 (1.04, 5.13) | 0.021 |
| No | 80 | 3.23 (2.71, 4.09) | Ref | |
| Previous history of TB | ||||
| Yes | 7 | 3.67 (1.74, 7.69) | 1.09 (0.43, 2.34) | 0.687 |
| No | 105 | 3.34 (2.75,4.04) | Ref | |
| CD4 cell count (cells/µL) | ||||
| < 200 | 39 | 9.76 (7.13, 13.36) | 3.92 (2.59, 5.87) | < 0.001 |
| ≥ 200 | 73 | 2.49 (1.97, 3.13) | Ref | |
| Viral load suppression (copies/mL)$,* | ||||
| Detectable (≥ 50) | 36 | 5.92 (4.27, 8.21) | 2.31 (1.61–3.29) | 0.002 |
| Undetectable (< 50) | 57 | 3.04 (2.34, 3.93) | Ref | |
| Level of adherence to ART | ||||
| Poor | 17 | 17.667 (10.99, 28.45) | 6.89 (3.28, 11.74) | < 0.001 |
| Fair | 16 | 9.99 (66.12, 166.31) | 3.89 (2.12, 6.71) | < 0.001 |
| Good | 79 | 2.57 (2.06, 3.20) | Ref | |
| Adherence to IPT$ | ||||
| Poor | 1 | 1.74 (0.25, 12.38) | 1.05 (0.03, 6.23) | 0.618 |
| Fair | 3 | 1.25 (0.40, 3.87) | 0.75 (0.15, 2.38) | 0.999 |
| Good | 38 | 1.66 (1.20, 2.27) | Ref | |
| Cumulative exposure to ART (years) | ||||
| 1–2 | 6 | 13.30 (5.99, 29.68) | 4.87 (1.73, 11.01) | 0.002 |
| 3–5 | 27 | 6.66 (4.57, 9.71) | 2.43 (1.51, 3.81) | < 0.001 |
| > 5 | 79 | 2.74 (2.19, 3.41) | Ref | |
| Cumulative follow-up time (years) | ||||
| 1–2 | 10 | 14.70 (7.89, 27.25) | 5.55 (2.56, 10.76) | < 0.001 |
| 3–4 | 25 | 7.05 (4.76, 10.42) | 2.67 (1.63, 4.23) | < 0.001 |
| 5–6 | 77 | 2.64 (2.11, 3.31) | Ref | |
| Region | ||||
| Maekel (Central) | 73 | 3.02 (2.39, 3.79) | 35.82 (9.57, 30.37) | < 0.001 |
| Debub | 11 | 4.88 (2.70, 8.82) | 5.28 (1.15, 9.09) | 0.022 |
| Anseba | 16 | 5.22 (3.19, 8.51) | 5.64 (1.32, 50.61) | 0.008 |
| Northern Red Sea | 9 | 9.22 (4.79, 17.71) | 9.97 (2.06, 94.8) | < 0.001 |
| Southern Red Sea | 1 | 1.45 (0.20, 10.29) | 2.57 (0.03, 30.13) | 0.564 |
| Gash-Barka | 2 | 0.92 (0.23, 3.69) | Ref | |
PLHIV people living with HIV, IPT isoniazid preventive therapy, Ref reference category, ART antiretroviral therapy
*Viral load was categorized as suppressed if the count is < 50 copies/mL and unsuppressed ≥ 50
$Information for some patients on these covariates was missing
¥While computing these variables, we excluded children less than 16 years of age from the analysis (N = 6178) as they do not relate to pediatric populations