Logistic Regression Modelling of Factors Associated With the Prevalence of Tuberculosis in Embakasi, Nairobi
Abstract
The researchprojectisaimedtowardsestablishingriskfactorsassociatedwiththepreva-
lence oftuberculosis(TB)inNairobiEmbakasi.Thisstudywasconductedonpatients
visiting chestclinicatMamaLucyKibakiTeachingandReferralHospitalwhichisthe
main healthfacilityservingtheEmbakasiareaofNairobiCounty.Tuberculosisisaex-
tremelyinfectiousdiseasewhichisbroughtaboutbyabacteriumcalled Mycobacterium
tuberculosis which usuallyattacksthelungs.Thebacteriumalsohastheabilitytoattack
other partsinthehumanbodysuchasthekidney,liver,brainandthespine.Thehighly
infectiousdiseaseisamajorthreattoworldhealth,thereforeearlymappingofthepossi-
ble cases,quarantiningtheindividualsandofferingthenecessarytreatmentsarethebest
and mosteffectivewaysoflimitingthespreadandincidences.Incomparisonbetweenthe
developedanddevelopingworlds,thedevelopedworldhassuccessfullylimitedthepreva-
lence inthelastfewdecades,thishasbeenachievedthroughearlydiagnosisandtreat-
ments asTBishighlypreventablewithefficientmeasuresinplace(EuropeanRespiratory
Review).Inmostthirdworldcountries,however,thesituationisquiettheoppositeasmost
of thecountriesreportareemergencetrendofactiveTBcases.Thisismostlyassociated
with theSubSaharanregionoftheAfricancontinentwhereSouthAfricaisalsoranked
as oneoftheleadingcountrieswithhighestnumberofinfectionsglobally.Tuberculosisin
Kenyaisamajorburdenbothtothegovernment,societiesanddevelopmentpartnerswho
pump massiveamountofresourcessoastocurtainthespreadandminimizethemortality
rate oftheinfectiousdisease.AccordingtoW.H.OKenyaisranked 13th amongst thethe
22 countrieswhichhasabout80%ofthetotalglobalcasesofTB.Tuberculosisaffectsindi-
viduals ofallagecategoriesandanyoneisatriskofgettinginfected.InKenyamostofthe
cases arereportedbetweentheagegroup15-44yearswhichformstheeconomicallypro-
ductivepartofthepopulation.ThestudywasconductedinMamaLucyKibakiTeaching
and ReferralHospitalwhichislocatedinEmbakasiWestbetweenUmojaIIandKomarock
estates inNairobiEastlandareaandservemajorityofthepopulationwhichliveinthelow
income estateswhicharecharacterizedbypoorsanitationandovercrowding.Thestudy’s
main goalwastoidentifyriskvariablesforforecastingtheincidenceoftuberculosisin-
fectioninthelocality.ThedatarecordsobtainedattheHospitalChestclinicformedthe
sourceofdatausedforthisstudy.InthestudyAlcoholismandcongestionwerethemost
significant factorsfortheprevalenceoftuberculosisinEmbakasi.Theprevalencerateof
tuberculosisamongstthefivesub-countiesofEmbakasiwerefoundtobesimilarfromthe
study lastlythelikelihoodoftuberculosisinEmbakasisub-countieswas4.661timesmore
likely thanthatofthenationalprevalence.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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