EFFECTS OF AGE DIFFERENCE ON PRESENTATION OF SPUTUM SMEAR POSITIVE PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To study the difference in clinical presentation of sputum smear positive TB patients in young and elderly group. DESIGN AND SETTING: A retrospective study conducted in Jinnah Medical and Dental College Hospital, Karachi from Jan 2004 to May 2009. MATERIAL AND METHOD: All sputum smear positive pulmonary TB patients were divided into young (age <50yrs) and elderly group (age >50yrs). The difference in presentation of clinical findings was statistically analyzed using Chi — square test. The p<0.05 level of significance was adopted. RESULTS: The young patients had more Night sweats (54% v/s 9.8 % p<0.001) and Fever (93.7% v/s 47.1% p<0.001) as compared to elderly group. The elderly showed more chest pain (64.7% v/s 19.04% p<0.001), dyspnea (43.1% v/s 8% p<0.001) and atypical symptoms (82.3% v/s 11.1% p<0.001) in comparison to young group. CONCLUSION: The results of our study suggest that elderly people are more likely to present with Chest Pain, Dyspnea and Atypical symptoms.