Socio-ecological Factors Associated with Tuberculosis Infection: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health issue and poses a threat to the community with high incidence and mortality, especially in the endemic countries. Social and ecological factors have been known to cause TB transmission. Hence, it is vital to synthesize evidence to adapt to the challenges caused by these factors. As such, this review aims to explore the relationship between TB prevalence and potential social and environmental factors. We searched the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus between 1^st January 2013 and 31^st 2024, for studies that met the following requirements: it was an original article investigating the social and environmental determinants associated with transmission of TB; and the study was published in English. The Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) assessed the study quality. We identified 484 potentially eligible published articles, of which 27 met our inclusion criteria. The main social factors and environmental factors associated with TB transmission were area of residence, smoking, alcohol use, household density, air quality meteorological variables, and seasonality. This review is one of the steps towards understanding the associations between social and environmental factors and the transmission of TB. These results can be used in future evidence-based strategies to strengthen surveillance and control strategies.

Keywords: social; environment; factors; tuberculosis; transmission