Reviews on Environmental Health
Volume 33, Issue 4, 2018, Pages 407-421

Demographic, socio-economic and behavior as risk factors of tuberculosis in Malaysia: A systematic review of the literature (Review)

Mohidem N.A. , Hashim Z.* , Osman M. , Shaharudin R. , Muharam F.M. , Makeswaran P.
  • a Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor, 43400, Malaysia
  • b Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor, 43400, Malaysia
  • c Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Malaysia
  • d Institute for Medical Research, Environmental Health Research Centre, Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • e Department of Agriculture Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Malaysia
  • f Public Health Division, Selangor State Health Department, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is making a comeback and has remained one of the main causes of mortality among the list of infectious diseases in Malaysia. To evaluate the burden and demographic, socio-economic and behavior as risk factors of TB among communities in Malaysia. A comprehensive search of Scopus, Sciencedirect, PubMed, DOAJ, CINAHL Plus, MyJournal, BIREME, BMC Public Health, Medline, CAB, EMBASE (Excerpta Medica dataBASE), and Web of Science (WoS) was undertaken from the articles published from 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2017 using medical subject heading (MeSH) key terms. Of 717 papers screened, 31 eligible studies met our inclusion criteria. Gender, age, marriage status, ethnicity, area of living, being in prison and immigrant were evaluated as demographic factors, while educational level, occupation and household income were evaluated as socio-economic factors. For behavioral factors, smoking, drug abuse, alcohol consumption and other lifestyle practices were evaluated. However, not all the studies were statistically significantly associated with these risk factors. Studies on household income were few and too small to permit a conclusion. We also did not find any study that investigated TB infection among sex workers. Immigrant in high density settings may increase the progression of disease infection in Malaysia. The risk factors for the development of TB, specifically in a high-risk population, should be targeted through the implementation of specialized interventions. Further research into the role of indoor and outdoor physical environments is required to better understand the association between the physical environment and the social environment with TB infection. © 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

Author Keywords

socio-economic tuberculosis risk factors behavioral demographic

Index Keywords

Socioeconomic Factors tuberculosis risk factor Risk Factors Behavior socioeconomics Malaysia demography human Humans
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85055560447&doi=10.1515%2freveh-2018-0026&partnerID=40&md5=0a63b133d447b22afcb410ac6ece5568
DOI: 10.1515/reveh-2018-0026
ISSN: 00487554
Original Language: English