The social epidemiology of tuberculosis in South Africa : a multilevel analysis

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-105).Tuberculosis has long been considered a disease of poverty but there has been little research into the pathways through which low socio-economic status leads to increased risk of disease. This study reviews the existing literature on risk factors for tuberculosis disease with a particular focus on those variables that reflect the social setting in which an individual lives. It then conducts a multilevel analysis of South African data from the 1998 South African Demographic and Health Survey and the 1996 national census to evaluate individual-, household -and community-level risk factors for tuberculosis disease using a hierarchical regression model