Spatial patterns and factors associated with the incidence of tuberculosis-diabetes in Brazil.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyse the spatial patterns and factors associated with the incidence of tuberculosis-diabetes (TB-DM) in Brazil, from 2001 to 2019.

Study Design: Ecological study.

Methods: Brazilian municipalities were used as the units of analysis. The local empirical Bayesian rate and the spatial autocorrelation test were calculated. Moran and Getis-Ord Gi∗ were used to identify spatial clusters, and spatially weighted regression was conducted.

Results: In total, 75,021 new cases of TB associated with DM were reported in Brazil during the study period. Most Brazilian municipalities had an average TB-DM incidence of 1.0-2.0/100,000 inhabitants. The regression showed that the Gini index (β = 0.85) and family health strategy coverage (β = -0.26) were the two indicators that had the most influence on TB-DM incidence in Brazil.

Conclusions: This study identified spatial clusters of TB-DM in Brazil. The results also indicated that social inequalities played a key role in the incidence of TB.