Abebe et al. BMC Public Health 2012, 12:504 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/504 community level. The lack of diagnostic facilities and low quality health services might contribute to low case detection rates [6]. In the absence of a strong surveil- lance system and well established diagnostic facilities, community-based prevalence studies are good alterna- tives to estimate the burden of disease. We performed such a study in Southwest Ethiopia to estimate the bur- den of TB lymphadenitis. To our knowledge, this is the first community-based prevalence survey for TB lymph- adenitis in Ethiopia. Methods Study design, setting and period This community-based cross sectional study was con- ducted from February to March 2009 in Gilgel Gibe Field Research area (Figure 1) which is located in Jimma Zone about 260 kilometers Southwest of Addis Ababa around the reservoir of Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric dam. The site consists of four districts (locally known as Wor- edas): Sokoru, Omo Nada, Tiro Afata and Qarsa. Two small towns and eight rural Kebeles (smallest administra- tive units), situated within 10 kilometers of the reservoir of the dam were selected as field research site by Jimma University in 2005. Since then, regular demographic and AIDS mortality surveillances have been undertaken by Page 2 of 7 Jimma University in the research site. At the time of the study, the total population of the field research area was 50,156 individuals in 10,882 households. Study population and data collection procedures At the time of the study the total number of individuals 15 years or older in the study area was 30,040. A ques- tionnaire was prepared in Amharic (local language) to identify TB lymphadenitis suspects in the study area. Trained personnel with high school education visited each household. If the heads of the households were not available during the visit, the data collectors repeatedly visited the same household up to 3 times. Individuals were asked if they had noticed lumps and bumps in the neck, armpits or groin themselves. Only those that re- spond positively were considered suspects and asked to come the next day to a center to undergo FNA. At the center those TB lymphadenitis suspects were inter- viewed using a structured questionnaire including ques- tions about his/her socio-demographic situation. Sample collection and processing The FNA was performed by the study pathologists. The diagnosis of TB lymphadenitis was made when smear Figure 1 Map of Gilgel Gibe filed research area.