Temporal Trends of Gender Differential in Prevalence of Tuberculosis in India

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Rohit Kundu, O.P. Sheoran, and Pavitra Kumari (Department of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculural University, Hisar, Haryana)

The prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) is consistently higher in males as compared to females in India. To better understand this gender gap, data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from 2005-2006 (NFHS-3) and 2015-2016 (NFHS-4) was analyzed. The results show a decrease in the gender gap over a ten-year period, although the overall prevalence of TB remained unchanged. The gender gap was found to be significant in rural areas, with the decrease being primarily driven by Hindus, those in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) caste, other castes, and the poorest wealth quintile in these areas. There was an increase in the gender gap in urban areas, but it was not found to be statistically significant.