فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: The annual risk of tuberculosis (TB) in Iran is about 0.5% with annual incidence rate of 23/100000 (16322 cases). Different factors have been postulated as TB predisposing factors. Several studies have linked smoking with pulmonary tuberculosis as the TB incidence in their adult men was 2.4 times higher than women. In Iran, however, this ratio is equal and somewhere the ratio in women is greater. We decided to carry out a case control study in order to evaluate the effect of cigarette smoking on pulmonary TB. Results: Smokers were 2.1 times more likely to develop pulmonary TB (OR=2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.33- 2.33, p<0.04). The age adjusted odds ratio was 1.804 (95%CI:1.66-2.5, p<0.05). Quantity of cigarette smoking and duration of smoking had positive association with pulmonary TB. The ORs for mild (1-10 cigarette/day), moderate (11- 20/day) and heavy (>20/day) smoking were 1.68, 2.46, and 2.56, respectively (p<0.05). The ORs for duration of smoking with <10 years, 11-20 years and >20 years of smoking were 0.91, 2.48, and 2.9, respectively (p< 0.001). Conclusion: We conclude that smoking may increase the risk of pulmonary TB in men. Further studies should be conducted to investigate this association and to establish whether smoking reduction strategies contribute to tuberculosis control.