Exposure to combustion of solid fuel and tuberculosis: a matched case-control study

Abstract

The present study was conducted in Benin to ascertain the association between exposure to combustion of solid fuel (coal and biomass) and tuberculosis.Cases were consecutive, sputum smear-positive tuberculosis patients never previously treated for tuberculosis for as long as 1 month. Two controls were selected from the neighbourhood of each case, matched by age and sex by a predefined procedure.A total of 200 new smear-positive cases and 400 neighbourhood controls were enrolled. In univariate analysis, using solid fuel for cooking (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.8), ever smoking (OR 5.5, 95% CI 3.1-9.8), male sex (OR 10.5, 95% CI 1.6-71.1), daily use of alcoholic beverages (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.2) and having a family member with tuberculosis in the previous 5 yrs (OR 30.5, 95% CI 10.8-85.8) were all significantly associated with tuberculosis cases. When all significant variables were entered into a multivariate conditional logistic regression model, the association between using solid fuel for cooking and tuberculosis cases was no longer statistically significant (adjusted OR 1.4, 95% CI 0.7-2.7).In conclusion, the association between exposure to combustion of solid fuel and tuberculosis was relatively weak and not statistically significant.

Effect of Smoking and Indoor Air Pollution on the Risk of Tuberculosis: Smoking, Indoor Air Pollution and Tuberculosis

“…Smoking prevalence is much more in males and it is remarkable that many smokers are smoking mostly in their homes (4). There are many evidences that there is a strong association between indoor air quality, smoking and tuberculosis (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). However, the association between smoking, indoor air pollution and tuberculosis is not yet fully understood.…”

Update in Environmental and Occupational Medicine 2010

“…Even higher risks were observed in women who used kerosene stoves or lamps for lighting or who used biomass fuel for heating (34). In contrast, another study failed to show an association between using solid fuel for cooking and tuberculosis (35).…”

Hut Lung Disease: A Radiological and Pathological Correlation

“…The findings associating hut lung disease with pulmonary tuberculosis have been varied with several authors reporting insufficient, and weak evidence associating the two [12][13][14], while Sumpter et al argues that the more recent body of evidence suggests otherwise [15]. Exposure to tobacco smoke, poverty and over-crowding are several plausible reasons associated with both biomass fuel use, and pulmonary tuberculosis with a reasonable inference that the most indigent population from developing nations who can only afford biomass fuel as a form of combustion is the very same cohort at the highest risk for tuberculosis for aforementioned reasons [12,13,15,16].…”