Tuberculosis among children and adolescents: An epidemiological and spatial analysis in the state of Sergipe, Brazil, 2001-2017

Abstract

Tuberculosis continues to be of the most frequent diseases in the world and one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality. Data from the World Health Organization indicate that Brazil accounts for 75% of global cases involving chil-dren. The study aims to analyze the epidemiolog-ical and spatial pattern of tuberculosis in children and adolescents in the state of Sergipe during the period from 2001 to 2017. This is an ecological, temporal series study using secondary data. The categorical variables were summarized in simple and absolute frequency. In the spatial analysis the Bayesian method for rate smoothing and the Mo-ran index were used to evaluate spatial autocor-relation. Trend analysis was performed using the Joinpoint regression model. The mean incidence rate was 5.9, with a predominance of 15 to 19 years of age (76.4%) and a steady trend, but with a positive annual variation in both sexes. Tuberculosis in children and adolescents has significant spatial dependence in the north and northeast re-gions. The knowledge of the epidemiological situ-ation of tuberculosis over the years provides subsi-dies for the targeting of resources in risk areas and new strategies for prevention and control of the disease among children and adolescents.