Extrapulmonary tuberculosis among tuberculosis suspects at a tertiary hospital in Benin City, Nigeria: A retrospective study

Abstract

There is paucity of data on extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) subsets in Nigeria despite contributing to the burden of tuberculosis. This study investigated extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) among tuberculosis (TB) suspects presenting at a tertiary health facility in Benin City, Nigeria. Patients' clinical and laboratory records domiciled at the DOTS clinic, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria, were extracted. Appropriate statistical tools were deployed to analyze data retrieved between January 2018 and December 2020. A total of 683 suspected TB cases were reported, among these, 360 (52.7%) had pulmonary TB while 28 (4.1%) had EPTB. Of this number, 21 (5.6%) males were EPTB positive, while 7 (2.3%) females were positive: an association was observed between the male gender and EPTB (OR = 2.567; 95%CI= 1.076, 6.122; p = 0.0451). A significant increase in yearly prevalence of EPTB was also observed across the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 (p = 0.0442). No statistical significance was observed between age and EPTB as well as HIV status and EPTB (p> 0.05). Lymphadenitis was the most frequent clinical presentation of EPTB. The prevalence of EPTB was 4.1%. Our findings call for concerted efforts of all stakeholders in order to reduce the prevalence of EPTB to the barest minimum.