Poverty: socioeconomic characterization at tuberculosis.

This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological status of Tuberculosis regarding to the socioeconomic characteristics of São José do Rio Preto between 1998 and 2004. Indexes estimated for 432 urban census tracts from the demographic census of 2000, sorted systematically according to the values of socioeconomic factors and grouped into quartiles were taken into account. The socioeconomic characterization was outlined based on Schooling, Income, and Number of Residents. The incidence rates were considered for 1998, 1999, 2003, and 2004. The socioeconomic factor accounted for 87% of the total variation. The disease prevalence is higher in the poorest areas. The incidence rate and the risk of being infected by TB in the poorest areas declined in 2003 and 2004. The results confirm that TB is determined by the population's living conditions in the city studied. It strengthens the relevance of understanding the TB conditional social factors to transform the worrisome scenario in which this population is inserted.