Publications

Concurrent pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (PTB/EPTB) is associated with poor treatment outcomes,however the prevalence of this disease in Jinja remains unknown. The goal of this study was to find out theprevalence and risk factors for concurrent PTB and EPTB among patients at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital's(JRRH) tuberculosis (TB) treatment center. The research was conducted at JRRH's TB unit in Uganda. I reviewedcharts for persons with tuberculosis who were enrolled in care between January 2017 and November 2022. Peoplewith pulmonary bacteriologically proven TB who were enrolled in care during the trial period were eligible foreligible charts. PTB with bacteriological, histological, and/or radiological signs of TB at another non-contiguouslocation was described as concurrent PTB and EPTB. 119 patient charts were eligible, of whom 71 (60.0%) wereaged 15 – 34 years and 61 (51.3%) were female. The frequency of concomitant PTB and EPTB was 7.6% (9/119).People who had both PTB and EPTB had at least one comorbidity (82.4% vs 37.2%), with HIV being the mostcommon. Furthermore, persons who had PTB and EPTB at the same time had a higher mortality rate (26.5% vs6.37%) and a poorer cure rate (41.2% vs 64.8%). These findings underline the need of early identification oftuberculosis before it spreads, particularly among patients living with HIV.