O trabalho descreve o perfil epidemiológico da tuberculose no municÃpio de Teresina-PI, Brasil, de 1999 a 2005. É um
estudo epidemiológico descritivo de série histórica com dados coletados no Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação
(Sinan) e no Sistema de Informações sobre Mortalidade (SIM) do MunicÃpio, sobre casos novos notificados de tuberculose,
residentes em Teresina-PI, analisando-se caracterÃsticas demográficas, socioeconômicas e clÃnicas. Foi encontrada uma taxa
média de incidência de casos novos de 50,1/100.000 hab. e coeficiente médio de mortalidade de 3,3 por 100.000 hab. Os
doentes são predominantemente do sexo masculino (64,0%), com menos de sete anos de escolaridade (70,33%) e de adultos
jovens (58,8%), apesar de a maior taxa de incidência ter sido observada na faixa etária de 50 anos e mais. Em 80,23% dos
casos, encontrou-se a forma pulmonar e quanto à evolução, 71,07% foram curados e 17,15% tiveram alta por transferência. O
trabalho possibilitou conhecer as caracterÃsticas da população estudada e as dificuldades, no Sinan, do Programa de Controle
da Tuberculose no municÃpio de Teresina.
This work describes the epidemiological features of tuberculosis in the city of Teresina, Piauà State, Brazil, from
1999 to 2005. This is a descriptive epidemiologic study of historical series on newly reported tuberculosis cases among
residents of Teresina, State of Piaui, by analyzing their demographic, socioeconomic and clinical characteristics.
Data were collected from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (Sinan) and from the Information System on
Mortality in Teresina. The median incidence rate of new cases was 50.1/100,000 population and the mean mortality
coefficient was 3.3/100,000 population. The disease has affected mostly males (64.0%), those who had less than 7 years
of formal education (70.33%) and in young adults (58.8%), although the highest incidence rate was found in the
age group of 50 and over. Pulmonary tuberculosis was found in 80.23% of all cases. As for the course of the disease,
71.07% of patients were cured and 17.15% were transferred from one health service to another. This study has helped
understand the characteristics of the population studied and the difficulties of the Tuberculosis Control Program in
the city of Teresina as far as Sinan is concerned.