[Tuberculosis in the Autonomous region of Madrid, Spain. Incidence among foreign and Spanish individuals during the 1996-2004 period].

Background: Immigration from countries having a high prevalence of tuberculosis to other more highly-developed countries has a bearing on the overall evolution of tuberculosis in the latter. This study is aimed at describing the influence of the cases of tuberculosis among foreign individuals on the incidence of this disease in the Autonomous Community of Madrid during the 1996-2004 period.

Methods: The data was taken from the Regional Tuberculosis Case Registry and from the 1996 census and the continuous censuses from 1998 to 2004. The tuberculosis incidence was estimated by country of origin from 1996 to 2004, by gender and by age groups. A calculation was made of the c2 for the linear trend, reasons for incidence and proportion of cases among foreign individuals.

Results: The incidence of tuberculosis went from 34.3 cases per 105 inhabitants in 1996 to 16.9 cases per 105 inhabitants in 2004. For those born in Spain, it changed from 33.2 cases per 105 inhabitants in 1996 to 12.7 cases per 105 inhabitants in 2004; and for foreign individuals, from 50.5 cases per 105 inhabitants in 1996 to 42.9 cases per 105 inhabitants in 2004. The reason for the incidence between foreign and Spanish individuals was greater than 1 for all years, the maximum figure having been in 2003, when 4.2 cases were detected among foreigners for every case among Spanish individuals (95% CI 3.7-4.7). The percentage of foreign cases went from 5.2% in 1996 to 35.1% in 2004.

Conclusions: The incidence of tuberculosis among foreigners was greater than among Spanish individuals and did not significantly decrease in the 1996-2004 period, which is contributing to tuberculosis having stabilized. This situation and the characteristics of this population must be taken into account in the efforts for controlling this disease.