Abstract:
The purpose of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence rate and factors related to tuberculous infection among hospital personnel of Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital. Three hundered and ninety-eight personnel were selected by systematic sampling from the list of 1,592 hospital personnel. The prevalence of tuberculous infection was determined by tuberculin skin test (TST) and its related factors were collected by self-administered questionnaires. The study was conducted during March and May 2003. Three hundred and eight-six personnel (96.98% of 398), participating in this study, were 59 males (15.3%) and 327 females (84.7%). The mean age and duration of employment were 32.74 (±8.00) years and 7.22 (±5.95) years, respectively, and there were no difference between gender. There were 138 non-occupational exposure (35.8%), 220 occupational exposure (57.0%), and 324 BCG vaccinated personnel (83.9%). Two hundred and twenty-nine of BCG vaccinated personnel had a BCG scar (92.3%). Seventy-one percent of participants had positive tuberculin skin test by Mantoux method with indurations of 10 mm or more. Working department, occupational exposures, and duration of employment of 1 year or more were significantly associated with TST positivity, while gender, age occupation, non-occupational exposures, and BCG scar were not.