RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the risk factors on relapsing tuberculosis related to smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis which had been cured for five years.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Patients with smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis registered in 1995 from ten countries in Hubei province were studied and logistic regression was used for data analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The 5-year relapse rate of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis was 3.85 percent. Risk factors related to relapse would include being non-modeled county, negative smear after treated for three months, the class of retreatment, management of non-DOTS, method of chemotherapy and patients that did not get treated by the tuberculosis institute, with odds ratios of 0.15, 4.62, 3.68, 5.88 and 6.47, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Effect standard, regulation DOTS and the centralized management measure might have had effects on decreasing the relapse rate.</p>