Spatial risk of tuberculosis mortality and social vulnerability in Northeast Brazil

• Main Authors: Thaís Zamboni Berra, Ana Angélica Rêgo de Queiroz, Mellina Yamamura, Luiz Henrique Arroyo, Maria Concebida da Cunha Garcia, Marcela Paschoal Popolin, Danielle Talita dos Santos, Antonio Carlos Vieira Ramos, Luana Seles Alves, Inês Estevinho Fronteira, Francisco Chiaravalloti Neto, Pedro Fredemir Palha, Ricardo Alexandre Arcêncio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT)
• Series: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Subjects: Tuberculosis; Social vulnerability; Spatial analysis
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822017000500693&lng=en&tlng=en
• ISSN: 1678-9849

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common infectious disease in the world. We aimed to analyze the spatial risk of tuberculosis mortality and to verify associations in high-risk areas with social vulnerability. METHODS: This was an ecological study. The scan statistic was used to detect areas at risk, and the Bivariate Moran Index was used to verify relationships between variables. RESULTS: High-risk areas of tuberculosis mortality were statistically significantly associated with domain 2 of the Social Vulnerability Index (I=0.010; p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence regarding areas with high risk and that vulnerability is a determinant of TB mortality.