Prevalence and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) among Tuberculosis

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and estimated disability of adjusted life years (DA­LYs) of tuberculosis (TB) patients in Bangkok prisons. The 222 TB patients from 7 Bangkok prisons who got proactive chest x-ray screening in 2017 were studied by retrospective cohort method using sec­ondary data. The results showed that the prevalence of tuberculosis was 6.81 per 1,000 population from all screening prisoners. The 0.90% of the patients had multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. There were 21.2 times more male than female; and 70.27% of patients in the 25-44 year age range. The 54.95% of patients were improved and 25.68% were still under treatment. The 15.32% of patients were undergoing treatment until the last day before discharge or transfer whereas 4.05% of cases did not receive treatment. The burden of disease due to TB in all prisons was 36.79 DALYs (112.90 DALYs per 100,000). The burden of TB in prisons had increased over the past year; and the DALYs indicated urgency in addressing tuberculosis in prisons in order to prevent the spreading. Proactive screening according to intensive tuber­culosis guidelines for TB (Unite to End TB) in prisons should be continued and accelerated in detection including increase the success rate of treatment, particularly in the vulnerable populations: the inmates and prison officers.