Association of Comorbidities, Symptoms, and Laboratory Markers with Tuberculosis: A Retrospective Analysis

Objectives Tuberculosis is still a serious public health issue, especially in high-burden nations where preventing morbidity and transmission requires prompt diagnosis and focused treatment. The objective of the current study was to determine the association between clinical and demographic factors with tuberculosis (TB) among GXP-positive patients. Methods This is a retrospective observational study conducted at Dr. Ziauddin Hospital on GXP-positive patients. All patients diagnosed with TB based on GeneXpert (GXP) positivity were included. Patients with incomplete records or alternative diagnoses were excluded. Demographic details, comorbidities (Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, CKD, IHD, etc.), clinical symptoms (cough, fever, weight loss, SOB, etc.), smoking status, radiological findings (consolidation, cavitations, effusion), and laboratory parameters (Hb, WBC, Platelets, ESR, CRP, Creatinine, etc.) were extracted from medical records. P- value < 0.05 were considered significant. Results The mean age of TB-positive patients was 52.7 ± 20.5 years compared to 39.9 ± 19.8 years in non-TB cases (p = 0.04). Among the study participants, male gender (72.7%), diabetes mellitus (45.5%), hypertension (54.5%), chronic kidney disease (27.3%), ischemic heart disease (27.3%), and smoking (18.2%) were significantly associated with TB (p < 0.05). Cough (63.6%), shortness of breath (45.5%), weight loss (63.6%), and pleural effusion (27.3%) were significantly associated with TB (p < 0.05). Diabetes (OR = 6.56), hypertension (OR = 7.85), CKD (OR = 18.4), smoking (OR = 8.16), cough (OR = 6.50), weight loss (OR = 8.03), and shortness of breath (OR = 6.56) were significant predictors of TB in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate model, these associations remained positive but were not statistically significant after adjusting for age and gender. Conclusion The study identified diabetes, hypertension, CKD, smoking, and respiratory symptoms as significant risk factors for TB. These findings highlight the need for early screening and targeted interventions for high-risk populations to improve TB diagnosis and management.