Abstract

Objective: Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health concern and is one of the main reasons responsible for the death of people by infectious diseases. We conducted this study to investigate the effect of human development index (HDI) on the incidence of TB in Asia. Methods: This ecological study was conducted in Asia to evaluate the correlation between the incidence of TB and HDI (life expectancy at birth, years of education mean and gross national income per capita). Data on TB from 2000 to 2016 were obtained from the World Bank Institution. The bivariate method and regression test were used to evaluate the correlation between incidence and mortality with HDI. Statistical analysis was conducted using Stata-14, and the significance level was considered 0.05. Results: In the recent years, the most occurrence of this disease in Eastern Asia is reported in Democratic Republic of Korea (513 persons/100,000), South-Eastern Asia in Philippines (520-590 persons/100,000), Cambodia (345-575 persons/100,000) and Timor-Leste (498 persons/100,000). A significant negative correlation was found between the incidence of TB and the HDI index in South Eastern (R = -0.609, P < 0.05) and South Central Asia (R = -0.793, P < 0.05). The results of regression analysis indicated that the increase in life expectancy at birth (LBE) (B = -11.45, P < 0.05) and MYS (B = -9.6, P < 0.05) caused a statistically significant decrease in the incidence of TB as well. Conclusion: The incidence of TB has a correlation with the human development index (HDI) in several Asian countries. Therefore, to reduce the incidence of the disease and prevent from it, the human development index should be considered as an effective factor in the occurrence of the disease, particularly in developing countries.