Burden of pulmonary tuberculosis among Ethiopians seeking jobs in the Middle East: a retrospective study.

Burden of pulmonary tuberculosis among Ethiopians seeking jobs in the Middle East: a retrospective study.

Publication date: Oct 03, 2025

Globally, pre-and post-migration TB screening are integral to controlling TB among migrants. Annually, approximately 300,000 Ethiopians migrate to the Middle East in search of job opportunities. But prior to their trip the migrants are randomly distributed by Wafid to 12 authorized clinics in Addis Ababa, for pre-migration medical screening for communicable diseases including Tuberculosis (TB), which is one of the main concerns and screened using chest X-ray (CXR). Based on the screening results, the job seekers are classified as Fit or Unfit to travel to the Middle East. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of presumptive TB among Ethiopian Migrant Workers upon screening and identify the possible associated risk factors. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using data between June,2023 and June, 2025 collected from three clinics utilizing Sefed Software Systems database. Ethiopian Migrant Domestic Workers (MDWs) are randomly placed for pre-migration screening to these health facilities by the Ministry of Labor and Skills. The prevalence of presumptive TB was estimated using STATA software version 14. Logistic regression model was applied to determine associations between X-ray TB diagnosis and with socio-demographic and clinical variables. Among 233,941 individuals screened during the study period, 10, 342 (4. 42%) were deemed Unfit to travel due to abnormal CXR findings. Significant associations were observed between TB-suspects based on X-rays and several variables. Using multivariable logistic regression analysis, religion (OR = 1. 24; 95% CI: 1. 19-1. 28); marital status (OR = 0. 88; 95% CI: 0. 84-0. 93), age (OR = 3. 35; 95% CI: 2. 70-4. 15), hepatitis B (OR = 1. 71; 95% CI: 1. 48-1. 97), syphilis (VDRL) (OR = 1. 97; 95% CI: 1. 63-2. 37) and pregnancy (OR = 1. 56, 95% CI = 1. 34-1. 81) showed statistically significant association with potential TB status with P 

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Concepts Keywords
Clinics Adolescent
June2023 Adult
Migrants Chest X-ray
Tuberculosis Cross-Sectional Studies
East African People
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Female
Humans
Male
Mass Screening
Middle Aged
Middle East
Middle East
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Transients and Migrants
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, Pulmonary
Young Adult

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease MESH pulmonary tuberculosis
disease MESH communicable diseases
disease MESH Tuberculosis
pathway KEGG Tuberculosis
disease MESH marital status
disease MESH hepatitis B
pathway KEGG Hepatitis B
disease MESH syphilis
pathway REACTOME Reproduction
drug DRUGBANK Coenzyme M
disease MESH hepatitis

Original Article

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