In-hospital contact investigation among health care workers after exposure to smear-negative tuberculosis

Table 1 Characteristics of the study population

Variables	n	%
Subjects, total	143	100
Sex
Male	44	30.8
Female	99	69.2
Age categorized*
18 to 39 years	84	58.7
40 to 49 years	36	25.2
≥ 50 years	23	16.1
Duration of employment in health care*
1 to 5 years	35	24.5
6 to 10 years	25	17.5
11 to 20 years	50	35.0
21 to 42 years	33	23.1
Foreign country of birth^†
Yes	25	17.5
No	118	82.5
Birth in high burden country^‡	4	2.8
BCG vaccination
Yes	73	51.0
No	56	39.2
unknown	14	9.8
Cumulative exposure time
≤ 1 hour	76	53.1
> 1 to 8 hours	42	29.4
> 8 to 40 hours	21	14.7
> 40 hours	4	2.8
Close contact	82	57.3
Prior TST	117	81.8
Positive prior TST result	45	38.5
TST >5 mm induration	40	28.0
TST >10 mm induration	28	19.6
Positive QFT-GIT result	13	9.1
Health care professions
Nursing	49	34.3
Physician	24	16.8
Other	70	49.0
Affiliation with Pulmonary Care	18	12.6
Own history of TB	1	0.7
Family history of TB	8	5.6

* Age and duration of employment were highly correlated (r = 0.72, p < 0.001). ^† Mostly Poland (n = 9) and Turkey (n = 7). ^‡ TB high burden countries (according to WHO [1]): Morocco (n = 2), Philippines (n = 1), Bosnia and Herzegovina (n = 1). BCG = Bacillus Calmette-Guérin; TB = tuberculosis; TST = tuberculin skin test.

ISSN: 1745-6673