Domestic cooking fuel exposure and tuberculosis in Indian women

BACKGROUND; A case-controlled study was undertaken to find out the possible relationship of biomass fuel and pulmonary tuberculosis.

Ninety-five non-smoking females with sputum positive tuberculosis (TB) and 109 healthy controls were interviewed using a questionnaire to obtain detailed information on type of fuel used in homes, duration of cooking, passive smoking, location of kitchen, socio-economic status, adequacy of ventilation, number of people per room and respiratory symptoms occurring during cooking. Odds ratio (OR) was ascertained by logistic regression analysis.

The cases were from a low socio-economic status and the kitchens used by them were inadequately ventilated. Controls had less smoke accumulation in the rooms while cooking and cases had associated respiratory symptoms more often. Logistic regression analysis revealed that TB was significantly influenced by the location of the kitchen (OR 0.201, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.08-0.51) and the presence of respiratory symptoms while cooking (OR 10.70, 95% CI 2.90-39.56). The odds of having TB did not differ significantly among various fuel types either on univariate (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.45- 2.22) or multivariate analysis (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.22-1.63).

No association was found between type of fuel used and TB. However, low socio-economic status, smoky rooms, location of the kitchen, ventilation and associated respiratory symptoms during cooking are likely to be important contributors.