122 RESEARCH ARTICLE Global Medical and Health Communication Online submission: https://ejournal.unisba.ac.id/index.php/gmhc DOI: pISSN 2301-9123 │ eISSN 2460-5441 Correspondence: Dr. Wanti, S.K.M, M.Sc. Department of Environmental Health, Politeknik Kesehatan Kemenkes Kupang. Jln. Piet A. Tallo, Liliba, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. E-mail: trivenawanti@gmail.com Received: 10 July 2022; Revised: 31 Juli 2022; Accepted: 6 August 2022; Published: 22 August 2022 https://doi.org/10.29313/gmhc.v10i2.10144 GMHC. 2022;10(2):122–127 Physical Environmental Conditions and Germ Number in Bedroom of Tuberculosis Patients in Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara Province Wanti Wanti, 1,2 Agustina Agustina, 1 Siprianus Singga, 1 Titik Respati 3 1 Department of Environmental Health, Politeknik Kesehatan Kemenkes Kupang, Kupang, Indonesia, 2 Center of Excellent, Politeknik Kesehatan Kemenkes Kupang, Kupang, Indonesia, 3 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia Abstract The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the agent of tuberculosis (TB) to live in the air is generally very dependent on environmental factors, which can cause bacteria to last long in the air and increase the risk of transmission of TB. The research purpose was to analyze the relationship between the physical environment condition and the number of germs in the bedroom of TB patients. This cross-sectional research was conducted in Kupang city, East Nusa Tenggara province, in January–June 2022 with 77 TB patients as samples, whose TB patients' rooms would be observed based on research variables for physical environmental conditions. Data were collected directly by observing and measuring directly from the variables studied and then analyzed using a correlation test and linear regression test to see the relationship between variables and the effect of the physical environmental condition on germ number in the bedroom. The correlation test shows the variables related to the bedroom germ number (p<0.25) were the number of people sleeping the TB patients, lighting, humidity, ventilation size, percentage of ventilation compared to room size, and room density. The model equation explains that 28.8% of the germ number variation in bedroom TB patients depends on the constant reduction (789,884) added to 19,217 times the bedroom humidity, then reduced by 9,518 times the percentage of room ventilation and also reduced by 31,185 times the density of the room occupancy. The most significant influence on the germ number in TB patients' bedrooms is the room humidity, which is 0.319. Keywords: Bedroom, germ number, physical environmental, tuberculosis Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis that enters the body through the respiratory tract. This disease is still a public health problem worldwide, and Indonesia has the 2 nd highest TB cases after India. 1 TB cases in Indonesia have reached 1,000,000, with some deaths yearly. 2 In Kupang city, the number of cases of pulmonary TB for the year 2018–2020 respectively was 670 cases, 667 cases, and 522 cases. 3 Many factors trigger the occurrence of TB transmission in the community, including the presence of TB germs, individual characteristics, and environmental factors. 4–7 House conditions such as humidity, temperature, lighting, and ventilation conditions, as well as residential density and house foors, are also associated with the incidence of TB transmission and determining factors for the presence of TB germs in people's homes. 5,8–11 Behavior has also been related to the incidence of TB transmission in the community. 12,13 Environmental factors strongly infuence the presence of TB germs. 5,6,9,14 Therefore, it is also necessary to intervene in physical environment risk factors so that the risk of TB transmission in the community can be reduced, especially among family members of TB patients at home. 14 The nature of germs in the air, in general, has similarities with the nature of TB germs, so this research aims to determine the relationship between the physical environmental conditions and the number of air germs in the bedroom of TB patients in Kupang city. Both the community and the government can use the research to prevent the transmission and incidence of TB in Kupang City. Methods This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Kupang city, East Nusa Tenggara province, from January to June 2022. The samples included 77 tuberculosis patients whose bedrooms were observed based on research variables spread over 11 health centers in the working area of the Health