Characteristics of people in the study cohort at index date, and incidence rates of tuberculosis during study follow-up
| Characteristic | No. of people in the cohort (%) n = 1 080 908 | No. of person-years (1000s) n = 11 640 | No. of cases of TB in BC* n = 2814 | No. of cases of TB/100 000 person-years (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 24.2 (23.3–25.1) | |||
| Age group, yr | ||||
| 0–4 | 45 998 (4.3) | 520 | 22 | 4.2 (2.7–6.4) |
| 5–14 | 152 560 (14.1) | 1756 | 129 | 7.3 (6.1–8.7) |
| 15–34 | 453 538 (42.0) | 4858 | 1132 | 23.3 (22.0–24.7) |
| 35–54 | 327 781 (30.3) | 3434 | 743 | 21.6 (20.1–23.2) |
| 55–64 | 59 256 (5.5) | 669 | 419 | 62.6 (56.8–68.9) |
| ≥ 65 | 41 775 (3.9) | 403 | 369 | 91.6 (82.5–101.4) |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 553 976 (51.3) | 6071 | 1391 | 22.9 (21.7–24.1) |
| Male | 526 932 (48.8) | 5569 | 1423 | 25.6 (24.2–26.9) |
| Immigration class | ||||
| Business† | 168 357 (15.6) | 1915 | 240 | 12.5 (11.0–14.2) |
| Skilled worker† | 440 778 (40.8) | 4295 | 573 | 13.3 (12.3–14.5) |
| Live-in caregiver† | 28 640 (2.7) | 278 | 129 | 46.4 (38.7–55.1) |
| Refugee‡ | 86 803 (8.0) | 1069 | 362 | 33.9 (30.5–37.5) |
| Family | 326 106 (30.2) | 3723 | 1387 | 37.3 (35.3–39.3) |
| Other§ | 30 224 (2.8) | 359 | 123 | 34.3 (28.5–40.9) |
| WHO Region of birth¶ | ||||
| Southeast Asia | 153 061 (14.2) | 1631 | 698 | 42.8 (39.7–46.1) |
| Africa | 31 161 (2.9) | 320 | 101 | 31.6 (25.7–38.4) |
| Western Pacific | 586 669 (54.3) | 6476 | 1773 | 27.4 (26.1–28.7) |
| Eastern Mediterranean | 84 057 (7.8) | 778 | 134 | 17.2 (14.4–20.4) |
| The Americas | 80 297 (7.4) | 839 | 49 | 5.8 (4.3–7.7) |
| Europe | 145 661 (13.5) | 1595 | 59 | 3.7 (2.8–4.8) |
| TB rate in country of birth** | ||||
| 0–30 cases/100 000 population | 186 165 (17.2) | 1733 | 37 | 2.1 (1.5–2.9) |
| 31–100 cases/100 000 population | 278 081 (25.7) | 2582 | 249 | 9.6 (8.5–10.9) |
| 101–200 cases/100 000 population | 340 901 (31.5) | 4067 | 952 | 23.4 (21.9–24.9) |
| > 200 cases/100 000 population | 275 759 (25.5) | 3257 | 1576 | 48.4 (46.0–50.8) |
| Index year | ||||
| 1985–1994 | 299 501 (27.7) | 5051 | 1386 | 27.4 (26.0–28.9) |
| 1995–2004 | 443 941 (41.1) | 5032 | 1084 | 21.5 (20.3–22.9) |
| 2005–2013 | 337 466 (31.2) | 1556 | 344 | 22.1 (19.8–24.6) |
Note: BC = British Columbia, CI = confidence interval, TB = tuberculosis. Missing data: country of birth (n = 2).
↵* Includes respiratory (70%) and nonrespiratory (30%) TB sites.
↵† Economic immigration classes include both principal applicants and their dependents.
↵‡ Includes government-assisted (46%), privately sponsored (26%), asylum (22%) and dependents abroad (6%).
↵§ Includes retirees (57%), deferred removal orders and postdetermination refugee claimants in Canada (7%), permit holders applying for permanent residence (3%), and humanitarian and compassionate cases (36%).
↵¶ Countries/territories in each WHO Health Region (based on most person-time spent in BC): Southeast Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia), Africa (South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia), Western Pacific (China, Hong Kong, Philippines), Eastern Mediterranean (Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan), Americas (United States, El Salvador, Mexico), Europe (United Kingdom and colonies, Poland, Germany) (Appendix 1, supplemental Table 1 [available at www.cmaj.ca/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1503/cmaj.170817/-/DC1] provides a more extensive list).
↵** Values are World Health Organization estimates for an individual’s year of index = number of TB cases (all forms)/100 000 population.