Risk factors for tuberculin skin test positivity in an industrial workforce results of a contact investigation.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for tuberculin skin test (TST) positivity among an industrial workforce employing many foreign-born workers after one employee was hospitalized for active tuberculosis (TB).


METHODS
A contact investigation was performed. We used crude odds ratios and a multivariate model to assess risk factors for TST positivity.


RESULTS
The rate of TST positivity was 37.1% (N=97). Twenty-nine of 36 (80.6%) workers from higher TB prevalence countries versus seven of 61 (11.5%) workers born in low-prevalence countries were positive. Workplace risk factors included using the lunchroom, carpooling with the case, or working on the same or subsequent shift. A total of 66.7% of immigrant workers denied previous screening.


CONCLUSIONS
TB contact investigations should probe into workplace transmission. Workplaces with workers from higher TB prevalence countries should consider pre-placement TB screening.
Gulati
Mridu
M
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program, Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA. mridu.gulati@yale.edu
Liss
David J
DJ
Sparer
Judy A
JA
Slade
Martin D
MD
Holt
Elizabeth W
EW
Rabinowitz
Peter M
PM
D000328:Adult; D003237:Connecticut; D016358:Contact Tracing; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013783:Textile Industry; D014374:Tuberculin Test; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*