Tuberculosis and poverty in the ethnic minority population of West Yorkshire: an ecological study

The rising incidence of TB in the UK in the last decade has been attributed mainly to the persistently high TB rates amongst ethnic minority groups. The epidemiology of TB in these groups is presently poorly understood. The aim of this ecological study was to investigate the relationship between TB and poverty in the South Asian ethnic groups. TB notification rates in South Asians residing in Kirklees (West Yorkshire) were correlated with eight indices of deprivation. Spearman's correlation coefficient analysis suggested a strong relationship between notification rates and material deprivation (r = 0.58 [p value = 0.009 for a two-tailed test]). A similar association was also observed for unemployment (r = 0.51 [p value = 0.02 for a two-tailed test]), but not for overcrowding. This study suggests a link between TB and deprivation in ethnic minority groups in the UK.