ABSTRACT
Pulmonary tuberculosis is one of the most known human diseases and has a long history. Regarding the fact that its prevalence among Iranians is relatively high, several programs have been designed in order to control this disease. The objective of this study was to determine wether there is any relationship between pulmonary tuberculosis and cigarette smoking as an independent risk factor. This study was a case control survey done in Pulmonary Ward of Imam Reza Hospital from January 2003 to March 2006. 64 males with tuberculosis were compared with 64 non - tuberculotic males in the same range of age. Data was gathered with a direct questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS software. The results derived from this study indicated that the percentage of smokers was 59.4% in the case group who had pulmonary tuberculosis; while it turned to be 37.5% in the control group. These was a significant difference between two groups in smoking duration, number of cigarretes smoked per day and the age about which the smokers started smoking. The study showed that smoking is an independent risk factor for pulmonary tuberculosis infection. Regarding other studies that revealed the role of cigarette smoking in suppressing the immune system, it is highly advised to design effective programs for cigarette quitting to reduce the rate of tuberculosis in the society