Abstract:

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis among students epidemic in Rizhao City from 2013 to 2022, so as to do a good job in the prevention and control of school tuberculosis epidemic in Rizhao and develop school tuberculosis prevention and control strategies. Methods: We collected the data on the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis among students in Rizhao from 2013 to 2022 (including gender, age, registration date, discovery method, treatment classification, and diagnostic result type) from the Information System of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the population data of the whole population and middle school students in the “Rizhao Statistical Yearbook”, and analyzed the epidemic characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis among students in Rizhao. Results: There was no significant trend in the annual registration rate of pulmonary tuberculosis patients among students in Rizhao from 2013 to 2022, from 9.84/100000 (43/437000) in 2013 to 13.45/100000 (59/439000) in 2022 ( {\chi }_{\mathrm{t}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{d}}^2=0.890, P=0.498). But the proportion of student patients in the total population of tuberculosis patients (increased from 3.67% (43/1172) in 2013 to 9.12% (59/647) in 2022) showed a slow upward trend ( {\chi }_{\mathrm{t}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{d}}^2=17.320, P=0.003). Among the 508 registered cases of pulmonary tuberculosis among students, male accounted for 58.07% (295 cases), female accounted for 41.93% (213 cases), the gender difference among students in different years was statistically significant (χ²=15.238, P=0.039). There was a statistically significant difference in the registration rate of pulmonary tuberculosis among different age groups (χ²=36.452, P<0.001); the 16-18 year old group had the most (50.39% (256 cases)), followed by the ≥19 year old group (42.91% (218 cases)), and the 0-12 year old group had the least (0.98% (5 cases)). The proportion of actively discovered student patients had been increasing year by year (from 9.30% (4/43) in 2013 to 32.20% (19/59) in 2022), the difference discover way in different years was statistically significant (χ²=23.611, P=0.005). The high incidence period of student patients was in June (11.22% (57 cases)) and October (13.98% (71 cases)) every year, with a small peak in March (9.45% (48 cases)) and December (9.25% (47 cases)). Conclusion: The student tuberculosis epidemic in Rizhao was relatively stable, and the active detection strategy had resulted in an increasing proportion of student tuberculosis cases in the population. Attention should be paid to the tuberculosis screening of students, especially male students in high schools and universities, during the review of final examinations and after the beginning of summer school. The quality and timeliness of screening should be improved.

Key words: Tuberculosis, pulmonary, Students, Public health surveillance, Epidemiologic study characteristics as topic, Rizhao City