title: Prevalence of Latent Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) in Saudi Arabia; Population based survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The annual risk of tuberculosis infection (ARTI) data in Saudi Arabia has not been updated since 1993.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence of latent TB infection (LTBI) and ARTI in a population-based sample in Saudi Arabia using Tuberculin skin test (TST) and QuantiFERON TB Gold in tube (QFT-GIT) test.
  
  
  METHODS
  A population-based cross sectional study was conducted between July 2010 and March 2013. Participants were randomly selected from the population served by the primary healthcare centers of the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs in Riyadh, Jeddah, Alhassa and Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1369 participants were included. The overall prevalence of LTBI was similar using TST and QFT-GIT (9.3% and 9.1% respectively, p=0.872) but stratified prevalence rates were variable in all sociodemographic groups except marital status. Additionally, the prevalence rates of LTBI using either test alone showed significant differences by several sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics. The overall ARTI was 0.36% using TST and 0.35% using QFT-GIT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We are reporting much lower estimates for the prevalence of LTBI and the ARTI in a population-based sample in Saudi Arabia relative to the data that have been used for more than two decades.
authors.affiliation: King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Infection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: balkhyh@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Hanan H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Balkhy
authors.affiliation: Infection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia; Public health & Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Egypt.
authors.forename: Kamel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: El Beltagy
authors.affiliation: Infection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia; Public health & Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt.
authors.forename: Aiman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El-Saed
authors.affiliation: King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Preventive Medicine Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Badr
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aljasir
authors.affiliation: King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Infection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdulhakeem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Althaqafi
authors.affiliation: King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Adel F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Alothman
authors.affiliation: King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Department of Pediatrics, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alshalaan
authors.affiliation: King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Hamdan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Jahdali
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055985:Latent Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014374:Tuberculin Test; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Latent Tuberculosis Infection; Prevalence; QuantiFERON TB Gold test; Saudi Arabia; Tuberculin Skin Test