New perspective on rise of tuberculosis cases: communal living

Forced migration caused by wars has led to regression in health parameters, including tuberculosis. This study aims to determine the relationship between living area, family type and the number of contacts among refugees and Turkish citizens diagnosed with tuberculosis.

This study was designed using retrospective file scanning. A total of 194 patients with diagnosed TB were included in this study. In addition, patients' addresses were visited and their family lifestyles and living areas were recorded.

Of 194 patients in the age range of 1-72 years (mean = 31.15, SD = 15.16), 98 patients were refugees. The number of contacts among refugees was 549, and their total living area was 7,740 m². A total of 57 refugees lived in a communal living situation, and their average living area was significantly lower than that of Turkish citizens. Statistical significance was observed between family lifestyle and habitats. This was found due to the difference between nuclear families and communal living situations.

Tuberculosis was found to infect more people in war-related living conditions. This situation is caused by communal living, which refers to people who are not blood relatives living together; this is new information. Communal life should be taken into account in the contact examination of refugees for tuberculosis, and the obstacles to reach health services for refugees living outside of camps should be examined.