Volume 15, Number 6—June 2009
Research
Tuberculosis Disparity between US-born Blacks and Whites, Houston, Texas, USA1
Jose A. Serpa, Larry D. Teeter, James M. Musser, and Edward A. Graviss
Table 1
Univariate analysis of selected epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of participants in the Houston Tuberculosis Initiative, Texas, 1995–2004*
| Variable | US-born black | US-born white | Hispanic | Asian | US-born black vs. white, OR (p value) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||||
| Age, y, mean (median) | 42.5 (43.0) | 48.2 (47.0) | 36.9 (36.0) | 45.1 (43.0) | 0.98 (<0.001) | |
| Male sex | 938 (71.2) | 429 (78.7) | 783 (64.2) | 257 (55.5) | 0.67 (0.001) | |
| Not married | 1,091 (82.8) | 412 (75.6) | 742 (60.8) | 202 (43.6) | 1.56 (<0.001) | |
| Years of education, mean (median) | 10.6 12.0 | 11.7 12.0 | 254 (20.8) | 260 (56.3) | 0.90 (<0.001) | |
| Employed | 453 (34.4) | 214 (39.3) | 501 (41.1) | 209 (45.1) | 0.81 (0.045) | |
| Inner city residence† | 538 (40.9) | 198 (36.7) | 384 (31.5) | 40 (8.6) | 1.19 (0.094) | |
| Household size, mean (median) |
5.2 (3.0) |
4.5 (2.0) |
4.7 (4.0) |
5.1 (4.0) |
1.00 (0.454) |
|
| Social history | ||||||
| Income <$10K/year | 554 (51.7) | 161 (36.0) | 466 (46.0) | 78 (18.1) | 1.90 (<0.001) | |
| Use of public transportation | 664 (50.4) | 177 (32.5) | 363 (29.8) | 40 (8.6) | 2.11 (<0.001) | |
| Current homelessness | 129 (9.8) | 77 (14.2) | 32 (2.6) | 4 (0.9) | 0.66 (0.007) | |
| Stay in a shelter‡ | 132 (10.0) | 65 (11.9) | 17 (1.4) | 5 (1.1) | 0.82 (0.222) | |
| Current smoking | 745 (56.7) | 388 (71.5) | 279 (22.9) | 80 (17.3) | 0.52 (<0.001) | |
| Alcohol abuse§ | 601 (45.8) | 311 (57.4) | 251 (20.6) | 50 (10.8) | 0.63 (<0.001) | |
| Drug use‡ | 351 (26.7) | 129 (23.7) | 110 (9.0) | 4 (0.9) | 1.17 0.179) | |
| Injection drug use‡ | 25 (1.91) | 25 (4.6) | 9 (0.74) | 1 (0.22) | 0.40 (0.002) | |
| Same-sex sexual behavior | 129 (9.9) | 91 (17.0) | 69 (5.7) | 2 (0.4) | 0.54 (<0.001) | |
| Commercial sex | 168 (13.1) | 67 (12.6) | 52 (4.3) | 2 (0.4) | 1.05 (0.758) | |
| Prison history |
281 (21.4) |
92 (16.9) |
49 (4.0) |
5 (1.1) |
1.34 (0.026) |
|
| Medical history | ||||||
| Known TB exposure | 502 (38.1) | 222 (40.7) | 375 (30.7) | 86 (18.6) | 0.88 (0.222) | |
| Previous TB | 112 (8.5) | 55 (10.1) | 56 (4.6) | 41 (8.9) | 0.83 (0.274) | |
| Asthma | 85 (6.4) | 28 (5.1) | 40 (3.3) | 12 (2.6) | 1.27 (0.282) | |
| Diabetes | 168 (12.7) | 61 (11.2) | 224 (18.4) | 62 (13.4) | 1.16 (0.353) | |
| Renal disease | 76 (5.8) | 15 (2.8) | 34 (2.79) | 21 (4.54) | 2.16 (0.007) | |
| HIV seropositivity |
364 (27.6) |
109 (20.0) |
111 (9.1) |
8 (1.7) |
1.52 (0.001) |
|
| Diagnosis and prognosis | ||||||
| Pulmonary TB | 1,067 (81.0) | 496 (91) | 966 (79.2) | 341 (73.7) | 0.42 (<0.001) | |
| Extrapulmonary TB | 400 (30.3) | 97 (17.8) | 354 (29.0) | 153 (33.0) | 2.01 (<0.001) | |
| Cavitation | 458 (45.1) | 213 (46.1) | 405 (45.0) | 111 (37.1) | 0.96 (0.714) | |
| Smear-positive pulmonary TB | 577 (54.2) | 257 (51.9) | 473 (49.2) | 132 (38.7) | 1.10 (0.405) | |
| M. tuberculosis culture positivity | 1,102 (83.7) | 486 (89.2) | 979 (80.2) | 402 (86.8) | 0.62 (0.002) | |
| TB clustering | 822 (81.6) | 349 (77.2) | 466 (51.8) | 100 (27.9) | 1.31 (0.050) | |
| Drug resistance | 80 (7.3) | 22 (4.5) | 105 (10.7) | 79 (19.7) | 1.65 (0.043) | |
| Multidrug resistance | 3 (0.3) | 1 (0.2) | 15 (1.5) | 9 (0.9) | 1.32 (0.808) | |
| Death¶ | 143 (10.8) | 62 (11.4) | 80 (6.6) | 28 (6.0) | 0.95 (0.741) | |
*Stratification based on race does not include information about foreign-born blacks. Data presented as no. (%) participants except as indicated. OR, odds ratio; TB, tuberculosis; M. tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
†Defined according to specific zip codes.
‡Within 6 months before TB diagnosis.
§Drinks alcohol daily or nearly daily.
¶Within 180 days after TB diagnosis.
1Preliminary analysis of data contained in this paper was presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, October 4–7, 2007, San Diego, California, USA (abstract no. 346).
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