Objective: To review the literature to determine the existence of associations between socioeconomic factors (individual and collective) and the presence of tuberculosis.
Methods: A systematic literature review was carried out in SciELO, Lilacs, Medline, and Scopus using the following search terms: poverty, social indicators, socioeconomic factors, and tuberculosis (in Portuguese, English, and Spanish). Studies having individuals as the unit of analysis were classified according to study design and dependent variable. Ecological studies were classified according to levels of spatial aggregation of data and dependent variable. For each article, the following were recorded: study title, country of origin, year the study was carried out, authors, language, objective, level of spatial aggregation, and indicators used in the analysis.
Results: For individual level studies, a direct statistical association was observed between tuberculosis and alcohol addiction, HIV coinfection, low schooling, marital status, low income, lack of food, immigration, and previous contact with tuberculosis patients. For collective analyses, an indirect association was observed for variables relating to gross domestic product per capita, human development index, and basic sanitation at the country level. Indicators relating to crowding, poverty density, schooling, decline in family income, and households receiving governmental cash support were directly associated with tuberculosis at different levels of spatial aggregation.
Conclusions: The studies analyzed indicate a persisting relationship between socioeconomic indicators and the production of tuberculosis both at the individual and collective levels. The association between tuberculosis and socioeconomic indicators seems to be influenced by both the level of spatial aggregation and specific characteristics of geographic areas.