Summary
Tuberculosis in an immigrant population: emergency department diagnoses, analyzed by place of origin
Supervía Caparrós A, Del Baño F, Estévez E, Aguirre Tejedo A, Campodarve Botet I, Pallás Villaronga O
Affiliation of the authors
Servicio de Urgencias. Hospital Universitario del Mar. Barcelona, Spain.
DOI
Quote
Supervía Caparrós A, Del Baño F, Estévez E, Aguirre Tejedo A, Campodarve Botet I, Pallás Villaronga O. Tuberculosis in an immigrant population: emergency department diagnoses, analyzed by place of origin. Emergencias. 2009;21:410-4
Summary
Objectives: Hospital de Mar in Barcelona serves a population of 350 000 inhabitants. In
2006, 15.7% of this population consisted of immigrants to Spain. The aim of this study
was to describe the distribution by country and geographic region of immigrant patients
diagnosed with tuberculosis in the emergency department. Additionally, we show the
countries and geographic regions of origin of all immigrants identified by the census as
residing in the area the hospital serves.
Methods: The study included immigrants diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2006 and 2007.
Population data were obtained from municipal census records. By country and region of
origin, we analyzed the number of immigrants with tuberculosis, calculating percentages
of the overall immigrant population recorded in the census (PIPC) and of the total
number of immigrants diagnosed with this disease in the emergency department (PTED).
The ratio between the two percentages (PTED/PIPC) was calculated to create an index
reflecting the number of tuberculosis cases adjusted for population data.
Results: A total of 54 057 immigrants were identified in the 2006 census. The largest
national groups were those from Pakistan (14.1%) and Ecuador (10.1%). The largest
regional groups were those from Latin America (38.3%) and Western Europe (19.2%).
Sixty cases of tuberculosis were diagnosed in immigrants. Most of these patients came
from Pakistan (26.7%) and Bolivia (15%). Attending to geographic region, patients from
Eastern Europe (11.7%) and those from North Africa (8.3%) were the most frequently
diagnosed. The highest PTED/PIPC indexes corresponded to Bolivia, Pakistan, Eastern
Europe, and Central Asia.
Conclusions: Most new cases of tuberculosis in immigrants diagnosed in the emergency
department were found in patients from Pakistan and Latin America, but the highest
PTED/PIPC indices were those for Bolivia and Eastern Europe.