RESUMEN
Setting : District hospital laboratories and reference Zonal Tuberculosis Control Centre Laboratory in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand.Objective : To develop a peripheral laboratory quality control tool of tuberculosis sputum smear examinationMethods : Health systems research. First exploratory research and tool design, later analysis of tool application in the routine control programme.Results : A system of laboratory quality control consisting of re-examinaiton of a sample of slides, using the lot quality assurance sampling technique was created. Two indicators are measured : the proportion poorly prepared slides and the jproportion incorreclty read slides. Difficulties in applying the tool are described.Conclusion : A tool for quality control of tuberculosis sputum smear examination in peripheral laboratories has been developed and tested, and found useful to improve the quality of peripheral laboratories in Khon Kaen, Thailand.Key words : tuberculosis, tool, sputum smear examination, quality control, laboratory