Predisposing factors and cost Implications of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients attending federal medical centre Makurdi, Nigeria

The predisposing factors and the cost implications of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in patients attending Federal Medical Centre, Benue State, Makurdi, was investigated. Information on socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the patients was obtained using a structured questionnaire. The female had a higher (56.5%) number of TB patients than the male (43.5%). Most of the TB patients were married (52%). A larger percentage had tertiary education (34%). Majority of the TB patients were civil servants (41%) and 78.5% earned less than N 100,000 monthly. Those living in flats and bungalows made up a greater percentage of TB patients, and majority (55%) of them had more than five persons in their households (reflecting family size). It was also observed that many of the patients (54.5%) ate together or shared cutleries and about one-half (49.5%) of the patients reported that they were sleeping together on same bed with family members. In terms of house location most of the TB patients lived in North Bank (25.5%) and Wadata (22.5%). Mostly children (31.5%) and wives (30.5%) were affected by the TB disease; the proportion of affected husbands and relatives were lower. Many (71.5%) reported that they did not have health insurance and had stopped work because of TB ailment. Majority of the TB patients made substantial out-of-pocket expenses: up to 57.5% spent more than ₦500 on transport per visit, 52% spent more than ₦2000 on complementary test while 75.5% spent above ₦2000 on non-TB tests. From the findings of this study, it may be necessary to provide an enabling environment that facilitates treatment completion such as isolation of patients and adequate ventilation. A shorter treatment regimen eliminating visits to the healthcare should be encouraged.   Key words: Predisposing factors, cost, tuberculosis (TB), Makurdi.