Tobacco Troubles: Unraveling Tobacco's role in TB positivity among presumptive patients attending a taluka hospital in Karnataka, India

<h2>ABSTRACT</h2><h3>Background</h3> Tobacco dependence among patients with Tuberculosis (TB)(confirmed through microbiological tests) can have detrimental effects on treatment outcomes and immune responses. The study is aimed at assessing the prevalence of self-reported tobacco use and dependence cases among presumptive and microbiologically tested and confirmed patients with Tuberculosis. <h3>Methods</h3> A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Government Taluk Hospital, Karkala, Karnataka, from November 2022 to December 2022, on 292 people presumed to have TB. Data was collected using a pre-structured questionnaire including key questions from the WHO tobacco questionnaire, Global Adult Tobacco Survey, and Fagerstrom's test for Nicotine dependence on smoked and non-smoked tobacco. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 29.0<b>.</b> <h3>Results</h3> Among 292 presumptive TB patients, 63 patients (21.5%) confirmed tobacco use of which 17(5.8%) only smoked tobacco, 44(15.1%) used smokeless tobacco, and 2(0.7%) used both forms of tobacco. Of the 292 presumptive patients with TB tested, 31(10.6%) patients were microbiologically confirmed to have TB. Varying degrees of nicotine dependence were noted in 2(100%) tobacco-smoking patients and 3(66.7%) smokeless tobacco users; and 1 (100%) using both had significant nicotine dependence. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Nearly one-fourth of the study population had self-reported tobacco consumption. Significant dependence on tobacco was found among patients where TB was microbiologically confirmed<b>.</b>