Publication date: Jul 06, 2026
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) undermines global TB control, particularly in high-burden African settings, with high HIV co-infection rates. While Tanzania is among the 30 high-burden TB countries, data on resistance patterns at tertiary referral hospitals remain limited. We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with drug-resistant TB among patients at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Tanzania. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of 170 TB patients managed at MNH between July 2024 and July 2025. Clinical and demographic data were extracted from hospital records. Resistance was determined using GeneXpert MTB/RIF results extracted from patient records. Rifampicin resistance (RR-TB) detected by GeneXpert was used as the operational indicator of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) in this study. The primary outcome was DR-TB, operationally defined by rifampicin resistance detected using GeneXpert MTB/RIF. MDR-TB (resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampicin) was recorded separately when documented in patient records; however, routine isoniazid susceptibility testing was not performed for all patients, so MDR-TB prevalence reflects documented clinical diagnoses rather than systematic testing. Bivariate associations were assessed using Chi-square tests. Multivariable binary logistic regression identified factors independently associated with resistance; due to only 24 resistant cases, the model was limited to two predictors. Among 170 patients (64. 7% male; mean age 44. 2 years, SD 15. 6), the prevalence of DR-TB was 14. 1% (24/170; 95% CI: 9. 5-20. 1). Of these, 22 (91. 7%) had documented MDR-TB diagnoses in their medical records. On multivariable analysis (limited to two predictors due to low event numbers), HIV co-infection (aOR = 4. 82, 95% CI: 1. 18-19. 67, p = 0. 030) and known contact with an MDR-TB patient (aOR = 7. 34, 95% CI: 2. 45-22. 01, p
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Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | drug-resistant tuberculosis |
| disease | MESH | co-infection |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Rifampicin |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Isoniazid |
| disease | MESH | tuberculosis |
| pathway | KEGG | Tuberculosis |
| pathway | REACTOME | Reproduction |
| disease | MESH | included |
| disease | MESH | Dar |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Coenzyme M |
| disease | MESH | infection |