Abstract

Background: In 2020, tuberculosis (TB) was responsible for 9.9 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths worldwide. In Chile, an increase in incidence rates has been reported in recent years, with a concentration of cases in the Metropolitan Region (MR). Aim: To evaluate the spatio-temporal relationship of pulmonary TB with socioeconomic variables in the MR of Chile. Methods: Ecological study developed between 2016 and 2020. Cases were obtained from the Ministry of Health (n = 4,370) and described by: sex, age, year of confirmation, health service, and commune of residence. Principal component analysis was used to construct community socioeconomic factors, and the association between factors and pulmonary TB was evaluated with a multilevel negative binomial model. Results: There was an increase in the incidence rate (9.97 to 10.74 cases per 100,000), a decrease in the incidence in people ? 65 years (17.56 to 13.38), and the average age (46.03 to 41.77 years). The factor characterized by greater immigration, overcrowding, and the urban population was associated with more elevated incidence rates (RTI: 1.29; IC95: 1.23-134), and the factor with higher education, less poverty, and less overcrowding with lower rates (RTI: 0.94; CI 95: 0.89-0.98) in the period. Conclusions: The decrease in the age of the cases together and the concentration of cases in urban and central communes, associated with unfavorable socioeconomic variables, confirm that pulmonary TB continues to be a relevant problem to consider. © 2023, Sociedad Chilena de Infectologia. All rights reserved.