title: Prevalence of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis in Gondar prisoners, North West Ethiopia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence and risk factors of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis among Gondar town prisoners, North West Ethiopia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross sectional study was conducted from February to July, 2008 in Gondar Prison. Prisoners with cough duration of more than two weeks were involved in the study by giving three sputum samples and filling the questionnaires prepared for risk factor assessment. Acid fast staining technique was employed to detect the presence of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli in the sputum samples. Data was analyzed using SPSS version13 computer software and presented in table. Chi-square test was used to assess associations and a P-value less than 0.05 was taken as significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 384 prisoners, 349 male and 35 females, with a mean age of 33.3 years were involved in the study. The prevalence of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis among those prisoners with cough duration of more than two weeks was 8.59%. Only the length of imprisonment had a significant association (χ (2)= 18.82, P-value<0.0001) with the prevalence of tuberculosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicated that tuberculosis among prisoners with cough duration of more than two weeks in Gondar prison is very high. Therefore Periodic screening of the prisoners and screening of newly introduced prisoners should be practiced so as to minimize the burden of tuberculosis in prisoners.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia. Electronic address: addiszelalem151@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Zelalem
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Addis
authors.affiliation: Leishmania Research and Treatment Center, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Emebet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adem
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Abebe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alemu
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Wubet
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Birhan
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Biniam
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mathewos
authors.affiliation: University of Gondar Hospital Service Laboratory, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Belaynesh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tachebele
authors.affiliation: Leishmania Research and Treatment Center, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Yegnasew
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takele
keywords: Ethiopia; Gondar; Prisoners; Smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis; Tuberculosis