Prevalence of Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis among TB Patients in Malaysia

<b>Background:</b> In Malaysia, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is currently a significant public health concern. <b>Objective:</b> This research aims to determine the prevalence of MDR-TB in patients with tuberculosis in Malaysia. <b>Method:</b> A retrospective review was conducted, and data was collected from the Malaysian National TB Information System (TBIS) between 2009 and 2019. A total of 989 cases of MDR-TB have been reported and associated risk characteristics have been determined, such as marital status, gender, ethnicity, employment status, consumption of alcohol, diabetic status and smoking status. The statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20 software. <b>Results:</b> Overall, based on data obtained from TBIS, the incidence of MDR-TB among patients with TB infections in Malaysia was 0.34%. The findings showed major differences in MDR-TB incidence between male and female patients (0.44% vs 0.20%, p&lt;0.001), single and married patients (1.63% vs 0.24%, p&lt;0.001), race (p&lt;0.001), working and non-working patients (0.48% vs 0.32%, p&lt;0.001), alcoholic and non-alcoholic patients (0.44% vs 0.32%, p&lt;0.001), diabetic patients and non-diabetic patients (0.39% vs 0.27%, p &lt; 0.001), followed by smoking and non-smoking patients (0.13% vs 0.27%, p &lt; 0.001). <b>Conclusion:</b> This study provides a significant assessment of the prevalence of MDR-TB and related risk factors that could be useful in Malaysia’s national TB strategy for the implementation of new strategies.