Prevalence of tuberculosis among patients attending Wau teaching hospital, Western Bahr El Ghazal State, South Sudan: a five-year retrospective study

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis is a second leading cause of morbidity worldwide, with a high burden in Sub-Saharan countries. TB is not only a public health problem but also a social and an economic problem. The primary objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of tuberculosis over five years from 2019 to 2023. METHODS: A hospital-based retrospective study was conducted in Wau Teaching Hospital, Western Bahr El Ghazal State, South Sudan, from 2019 to 2023. The data from the register book were used to extract the relevant variables, such as residential location, gender, and age group of participants. The data were then coded in an Excel sheet and entered into SPSS Version 25 Software for analysis. Data was presented in tables with a p-value of p < 0.05 considered significant. RESULTS: Out of 7148 patients who attended the Tuberculosis clinic in Wau Teaching Hospital. There were 62.2% (4448/7148) males, 29.9% (2137/7148) in the age group of 16–30 years. The prevalence of 23.0% (1643/7148) was recorded, the highest 27.4% in 2023 and the lowest in 2022 with 12.0%. Likewise, males recorded 15.4% (1098/1643) and 6.4% (457/1643) among the age group of 16–30. However, in bivariate analysis, variables such as resident, age and gender have been found statistically significant with (p = 0.017, p = 0.000, and p = 0.011) respectively. CONCLUSION: The current study documented a high prevalence of TB with different variations in the years, the highest was in 2019, and the lowest was in 2022. More awareness should be raised in the community, especially among youth, for early reporting and enrolment in treatment that can minimise the spread of TB in the community.