Prevalence and determinants of TB/HIV coinfection: the double tragedy of infectious disease burden - a 5-year retrospective study in a tertiary health facility in Enugu State, Nigeria.

Objective: To ascertain the prevalence and determinants of tuberculosis (TB)/HIV coinfection in Enugu State Nigeria.

Study Design: A 5-year record-based retrospective study (2018-2022) conducted at a tertiary health facility to identify TB/HIV coinfections.

Setting: About 483 patients treated for TB at the centre were included in the study.

Primary Outcome Measure: The χ test was used to test for association between the background characteristics of the patients (age, gender, place of residence, educational level, marital status, occupation, ethnicity and type of TB) and TB/HIV coinfection, while logistic regression was used to determine predictors of TB/HIV coinfection.

Results: Of the 483 patients with TB treated within the study period (2018-2022), all of them were screened for HIV and 29.0% of them had TB/HIV coinfection. The prevalence of TB/HIV coinfection was highest in 2021 (27.1%). On logistic regression, TB/HIV coinfection was more likely among traders (adjusted OR, AOR 4.932, 95% CI 1.364, 17.839) and students (AOR 2.772, 95% CI 1.014, 7.577). Those diagnosed in 2022 (AOR 0.514, 95% CI 0.272, 0.969) and those who reside in urban areas (AOR 0.594, 95% CI 0.372, 0.949) had lower odds of having TB/HIV coinfection.

Conclusion: Almost one-third of all the patients with TB (29.0%) treated at the health facility were HIV coinfected. Occupation of the patients was found to predict TB/HIV coinfection as traders had the highest odds of TB/HIV coinfection when compared with the other occupational groups. Targeted interventions should be geared towards these groups of persons for better prevention and control of both TB and HIV infections in the State.