Profile and gaps in tuberculosis preventive treatments among health professionals: An ecological study (2018-2023)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12957/reuerj.2025.87500Keywords:
Occupational Health, Health Personnel, Tuberculosis, Latent Tuberculosis, Public Health SurveillanceAbstract
Objective: to analyze the sociodemographic and clinical-epidemiological profile of health professionals that initiated tuberculosis preventive treatments in Brazil between 2018 and 2023, as well as their geographical distribution. Method: an ecological study conducted with 829 professionals registered in the Information System regarding tuberculosis preventive treatments. The analysis involved descriptive statistics and a thematic map. Results: predominance of white-skinned individuals (41.1%), women (77.6%), in the age group from 45 to 59 years old (34.7%) and with normal X-ray results (81.9%) was observed. Of all the participants, 88.8% underwent a tuberculin test, 50.1% reported no contact with tuberculosis, 89.0% were vaccinated with BCG and 68.2% had negative HIV results. The most frequent treatment was with Isoniazid (63.7%). An increase in the number of notifications was noticed, especially in São Paulo. Conclusion: the results evidence that TPT provision is insufficient for the actual number of professionals exposed to tuberculosis in the country, indicating flaws in workers' protection and inequalities in access to preventive measures.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Raphael Sampaio dos Santos, Katerine Moraes dos Santos, Gabriela Tavares Magnabosco, Regina Célia Gollner Zeitoune, Danielle Amaral de Freitas, José Nildo de Barros Silva Júnior
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