Tuberculosis related to labor activity in an Area of Valencia, Spain

Over a period of five years, the authors made a descriptive study of 374 ca se histories of adult patients diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) at the Serv ice of Internal Medicine of the La Fe University Hospital in Valencia, Spai n. The following data were gathered from the case histories: sex, age, civi l status, cohabitation, and origin (rural or urban). The authors used the Z -proportions contrast test (p < .01) to establish possible differences betw een the study population, the population served by the La Fe University Hos pital and the Valencian community at large. The odds ratios for various pro fessions in the study group were compared with those:for the same professio ns in the population served by the hospital. Among patients with TB, miners and construction workers were most numerous, followed by agricultural and farm workers. No casts occurred among health care workers. When the occupational distribution of the study group was com pared with that of the Valencian community at large and that of the populat ion served by the hospital, significant differences were observed for all p rofessional sectors except industry. Likewise, comparison of the study grou p with the population served by the hospital revealed that the risk of TB w as significantly higher among patients in the agricultural and construction sectors. It may be administratively efficient to screen at such work sites for asymptomatic infections and to provide preventive therapy in these set tings-even if acquisition of TB infection is not causally linked to the; wo rk setting.