Open Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2014, 4, 723-729 Published Online September 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojpm http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojpm.2014.49082 How to cite this paper: Adinma, E.D., et al. (2014) Characterization of Tuberculosis Cases Presenting in a Tertiary Health- care Facility in South-Eastern Nigeria. Open Journal of Preventive Medicine, 4, 723-729. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojpm.2014.49082 Characterization of Tuberculosis Cases Presenting in a Tertiary Healthcare Facility in South-Eastern Nigeria E. D. Adinma 1 , E. C. Azuike 1* , S. A. Nwabueze 1 , C. C. Nnebue 1 , E. D. Azuike 2 , D. C. Obi 1 , I. C. Iloghalu 1 , K. N. Okonkwo 1 , M. C. Ohamaeme 1 1 Department of Community Medicine, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria 2 Department of Nursing Science, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria Email: * emmanazuike@yahoo.com Received 27 July 2014; revised 29 August 2014; accepted 21 September 2014 Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract Background: Tuberculosis is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide, due to a single infectious agent. Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS) is presently the WHO recommended programme to fight tuberculosis worldwide. There is need to understand the char- acteristics of patients who receive treatment for tuberculosis. This will help modify the strategies to fight the scourge of tuberculosis. Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at the DOTS clinic at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria. The records of patients who received treatment from the clinic from 1 st January 2012 to 31 st December 2012 were reviewed. Three hundred and fifteen patients were included in the study. Important characteristics of the patients were retrieved. Associations between patients’ characteristics were determined using relevant tests of significance. Results: Three hundred and fifteen patients were included in the study. There were more male patients (59%). The reproductive age group (37.5%) was more than the other age groups. Mean age was 33.1 (±18.5) years. There were more rural pa- tients (50.2%) than urban patients (49.8%). There were more pulmonary TB patients (87.3%) than extrapulmonary TB patients (12.7%). There were more sputum AFB negative patients (45.4%) than positive patients (41.3%). There were more HIV negative patients (59.4%) than positive pa- tients (40.6%). Conclusion: This study demonstrated some important characteristics of tuberculo- sis patients. Such knowledge if taken into consideration in the tuberculosis control programme will definitely improve the outcome of the programme. * Corresponding author.