Title of article :
Estimating the prevalence of Positive Tuberculin Skin Test Reactions in General Population and High-risk Groups: A Meta-analysis
Author/Authors :
Moosazadeh, Mahmood Halth Science Research Center - Addiction Institute - Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, SariH , Rezai, Mohammad Sadegh Infectious Diseases Research Center with Focus on Nosocomial Infection - Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari , Tabrizi, Reza Health Policy Research Center - Institute of Health - Student Research Committee - Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz , Haghdoost, Ali Akbar Modeling in Health Research Center - Institute for Future Studies in Health - Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman , Afshari, Mahdi Department of Community Medicine - Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol , Abedi, Siavosh Department of Internal Medicine - Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari , Bahrami, Mohammad Amin Department of Healthcare Management - Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd , Akbari, Maryam Health Policy Research Center - Institute of Health - Student Research Committee - Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz
Abstract :
Results of tuberculin skin test (TST) surveys among different populations have been reported in
many studies as a method for detecting primary Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Combining
these results provides reliable estimates of primary latent tuberculosis (TB) infection for health
policymakers. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of latent TB infection in general and
high‑risk populations in Iran. National and international databanks were searched using specific
keywords. After restricting the search strategy, duplicates exclusion, reviewing titles, abstracts and
full texts, and quality assessment, eligible papers were selected. The heterogeneity between the
results was assessed according to Cochrane and I‑squared indices. The prevalence of positive TST
reactions was estimated using fixed and random effect models. Totally, 33 papers were entered
into the meta‑analysis reporting the TST results in 12693 people aged over 18. The prevalence
(95% confidence intervals) of positive TST reactions in all groups, general population, health
staff, medical students, household close contacts, patients with TB, immunocompromised patients,
HIV/AIDS patients, and those with risky behaviors was 26.2% (19.6–32.8), 25.4% (4.8–46.1),
38.9% (27.4–50.9), 13.4% (9.9–16.7), 35.9% (16.4–55.5), 13.7% (8.4–18.9), 29.4% (21.2–37.7),
and 14.6% (3.9–25.3), respectively. Our study showed great varieties of positive TST results
among different Iranian subpopulations. Furthermore, the prevalence of latent TB infection among
health professionals and family members of TB patients was considerably different from that of
the other subgroup. Since TB control programs such as active case finding are routinely conducted
among household close contacts and HIV/AIDS cases, other high‑risk groups including health‑care
workers and immunocompromised patients should be taken into consideration in these preventive
programs.
Keywords :
tuberculosis , tuberculin skin test , purified protein derivative , Latent tuberculosis
Journal title :
Astroparticle Physics
