Magnitude and Associated Factors of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Among HIV/AIDS Patients Attending Antiretroviral Therapy Clinic at Debre Tabor Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019.

Background Tuberculosis (TB) has remained as a top global public health concern of the 21st century. It is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide. Objective The study aimed to investigate the magnitude of pulmonary tuberculosis and its associated factors among HIV-positive patients attending antiretroviral treatment (ART) clinic in Debre Tabor specialized hospital, Northwest, Ethiopia. Methods A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 362 HIV-positive adult participants attending the ART clinic from October 1st to December 30th 2019. Socio-demographic data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Sputum was collected aseptically into a sterile and leak-proof container. Following aseptic techniques, each sample was processed using the GeneXpert assay based on the manufacturer's instructions. Similarly, about 3-5 mL of whole blood was drawn for CD4+ T-cell count and plasma viral load tests following standard blood collection procedures. CD4+ T-cell count was performed using the BD FACS caliber flow cytometry while the plasma viral load was performed by using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Then, collected data were double-checked, cleaned and entered into Epi-Info version 7.2.0.1 and exported to SPSS version 20.0 for further statistical analysis. The bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were conducted to address risk factor analysis. The 95%confidence interval with its corresponding cure and adjusted odds ratio was computed. Finally, p-value ≤0.05 was considered as a statistically significant association. Results In this study, the overall prevalence of tuberculosis among HIV-positive patients was 18 [(5%), 95% CI: 2.8-7.5]. A high viral load (≥1000 copies/mL) was positively associated [AOR (95% CI: 6.4 (1.6-25.7)), p < 0.001] with developing tuberculosis among HIV-positive patients. Conclusion The prevalence of TB is low among ART-receiving patients in our study site.