Tuberculosis In Brazil: New Cases, Healing And Abandonment In Relation To Level Of Education

Abstract

Setting: The situation of tuberculosis in Brazil, in each of its States and in the Federal District, with respect to patients' level of education. Objective: To assess the strength of the relation between new cases of tuberculosis and treatment outcomes and rates of abandonment, with respect to the patients' level of education, in 2013. Design: Transversal-quantitative study, using data from the Brazilian Disease and Notification Information System related to notified cases of tuberculosis, taking into account the patients' level of education. Data were analyzed by the hierarchical classification method (heat maps and dendrograms). Results: In relation to numbers of new cases of tuberculosis and rates of healing and treatment abandonment, the lower the patients' level of education (less than 9 years' formal education), the higher the numbers of new cases of tuberculosis and the higher the rates of healing and treatment abandonment, throughout the country. Levels of schooling of 1-5 years and of 6-9 years are especially strongly related to a high incidence of treatment abandonment, in all the States. This nding was con rmed by clustering techniques. Treatment abandonment is especially prevalent in the States of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro, according to both analytic methods. In the States of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Mato Grasso do Sul and Paraná, have the problem more similarly, but mixed with other groups of States. Conclusion: Knowledge of the level of education of tuberculosis patients is of vital importance to health care managers, enabling them