ABSTRACT
Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of treatment are essential for an effective tuberculosis (TB) control program. This study was done to assess the extent of various delays among TB patients diagnosed at medical colleges of Puducherry. A cross-sectional study involving retrospective medical record review and prospective patient interviews was conducted in and around the union territory of Puducherry during the period 2009-10. Various delays and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. Level of significance was determined at 95% confidence interval (CI) (P value <0.05) and all tests were two-sided. Among 216 new sputum smear-positive TB patients, 11.1% and 10.6% were smokers and alcohol users, respectively. The median patient delay, health system delay, and total delay was 37 days, 28 days, and 65 days respectively. Being a resident of Puducherry (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.18-0.87) and family size of ≤5 (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.21-0.97) were found as the determinants of patient delays and total delays, respectively.
ABSTRACT
Background: Early diagnosis of the disease and prompt initiation of treatment are essential for an effective tuberculosis (TB) control program. The delay in the diagnosis and treatment may worsen the disease, increases the risk of death and enhances tuberculosis transmission in the community. This study was done to assess the extent of various delays and their determinants among TB patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study including retrospective medical record review and patient interviews was conducted during the year 2010 in and around union territory of Puducherry in India. A structured questionnaire used in the WHO multi-country study to estimate the diagnostic and treatment delay in TB was used to interview the patients. Average estimates and proportions were calculated for continuous and categorical variables respectively. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) were calculated. Level of significance was determined at 95% confidence level (P value <0.05) and all tests applied were two-sided. Results: A total of 138 new sputum smear positive TB patients were included in the study. The mean age of participants was 41.8 years ± 17.3 years (range 15-87 years). Majority (67.4%) of the patients were male and married (68.8%). Majority (86%) of the patients were literate. The median patient delay, health system delay and total delay was 36 days, 28.5 days and 81 days respectively. The place of residence (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.18-0.87) and family size (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.21-0.97) were found as the determinants of various delays for TB patients. Conclusion: Patient and health care system delay for TB patients is long. There is need to improve the referral mechanism to ensure an early initiation of treatment for TB patients diagnosed a tertiary care hospitals.
ABSTRACT
Background: The period of infectiousness of a new sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis case is important in determining the risk of exposure faced by the community. Early detection and effective treatment of TB case reduces the period of transmission and the risk of exposure of the community. It is for this reason that the delay in TB diagnosis and treatment should be minimal to control disease transmission and patient suffering. Aims & Objective: To measure delays in diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, and to identify and assess the risk factors associated with these delays. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted of all new smear-positive pulmonary TB patients diagnosed between January 2012 and June 2013 at RNTCP clinic. The time from the onset of symptoms to first health care consultation (patient delay) and the time from first health care consultation to the date of TB diagnosis (health system delay) were analysed. Bivariate and logistics regression were applied to analyse the risk factors of delays. Results: A total of 122 patients with a mean age of 29.9 years were included in the study. Mean total delay between the onset of symptoms and treatment initiation was 53.42 days (median 50, range 14-128), with a mean patient delay of 29.24 days (median 25, range 5-94) and mean health system delay of 21.7 days (median 17, range 3–93). The mean treatment delay was 2.48 days (median 2, range 1-6). Factors independently associated with total delay were cough symptom (OR 3.36, P = 0.038), completed secondary school (OR 0.41, P = 0.018), good knowledge of TB symptoms (OR 0.39, P = 0.011), first visit to a public health facility (OR 0.45, P = 0.044), sputum testing at first health care consultation (OR 0.46, P = 0.048) and stigma attached to TB disease (OR 2.89, P = 0.021). Those associated with patient delay were male sex (OR 0.42, P = 0.020), large family size (OR 2.30, P = 0.027), completed secondary school (OR 0.43, P = 0.025) and good knowledge of TB symptoms (OR 0.45, P = 0.029); while those associated with health system delay were first visit to a public health facility (OR 0.31, P = 0.006), sputum testing at first health care consultation (OR 0.22, P = 0.001), number of health care consultations (OR 4.41, P < 0.001) and pre-diagnosis health care cost (OR 3.35, P = 0.001). Conclusion: Health system delay was an important problem in the area studied, with patient delay being of most concern.
ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: New diagnostic tests for tuberculosis, especially those based on nucleic acid amplification, offer the possibility of early and accurate diagnosis of active TB. In this study we use mathematical modelling to explore the potential epidemiological impact of these new tests, with particular reference to India. Methods: A behavioural model of patient-doctor interactions embedded in an epidemiological model of Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission, linked to field data, was used to investigate the effects of early diagnosis in preventing future TB cases. Results: New diagnostic tests for active TB will have a bigger impact sooner where: disease incidence is high and most cases are due to recent infection; advances in test technology (test sensitivity, specificity, etc.) are combined with early diagnosis; new tests have not only better technical specifications than current tests, but also compensate for the misuse of existing tests; health system delays are long compared with patient delays, assuming the former are more amenable to change. Interpretation & conclusions: New diagnostic tests will certainly improve TB control, but the highest impact will be obtained by applying tests with higher sensitivity and specificity early in the infectious period. Refined behavioural and epidemiological models should be able to investigate the mechanisms by which early diagnosis could be achieved, in addition to the consequent epidemiological effects.