Abstract:
Background:Currently, the biggest risk factor for tuberculosis is undernutrition. Proper diet
and nutrition play significant roles in treating patients with tuberculosis. The main aim of this
study is to assess the nutritional status of tuberculosis patients during their therapy and its
interplay with associated factors. Determining the impact on nutritional care in the postpandemic
era requires these kinds of studies. Objective: The objectives of this research are to
assess nutritional status and associated factors among adult tuberculosis patients during Intensive
phase in Three Gondar Zones, Northwest Ethiopia, 2024.Methods: This is a cross-sectional
institution-based study of adult TB patients; data collection was done from May 2024 to
September 2024. Simple Random Sampling was used to attain study centers, thensystematic
random sampling yielded study subjects. Data was collected by a pretested questionnaire.
Height, weight and Body Mass Index were measured following standard procedures to determine
outcome variable, nutritional status. Dietary patterns were assessed by a semi-quantitative food
frequency questionnaire.Data was entered using both paper-based methods and KOBO toolbox,
then exported to SPSS version 27 for statistical analyses after verifying completeness and
cleaning the data. Descriptive statistics was used to assess Outcome variable. Logistic regression
with P value<0.05 was used to identify significant determinants.Results: From the initial sample
size of 545, 501 participants were included, giving a 91.92% response rate.The study
participants' average age was 38.04 years, with a minimum of 18 years and a maximum of 85
years, and 54.1% were male. The proportion of undernutrition was 54.7% (274) [95%CI]. Of
whom 25.3% (127) have Mild, 11.4% (57) have moderate, and 17.8% (89) have severe
undernutrition. Patients with any eating problems [AOR 2.52, CI 95% (1.45-4.39)], disease
duration before therapy of three months or more [AOR 2.45, CI 95% (1.51-3.99)] and compared
to Quartile 4, those patients who had lower adherence to the vegetable& potato pattern, Quartile
1 [AOR 3.64 CI 95%, (2.03- 6.55)] and Quartile 2 [AOR 2.36 CI 95%, (1.36- 4.09)] more likely
to significantly associated with undernutrition. Also, participants from Severely food insecure
household [AOR 2.91 CI 95%, (1.37- 6.18)] were more likely to be associated with
undernutrition. Whereas participants who live with more than 6 family members were inversely
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associated with undernutrition compared with families with less than 3 members 61%
less.Conclusions: The extent of malnutrition is much higher compared to other regional
locations in Ethiopia. Eating problems, prolonged symptoms prior to therapy, dietary patterns
and patients from small families were independently associated with undernutrition of TB
patients.
