Email this article Tertiary care centre as safety net of tuberculosis diagnosis in National tuberculosis elimination programme in India
Abstract
Background: About one-fifth of the global gap in TB diagnosis was contributed by India which translates to roughly over half a million cases. Meanwhile the National tuberculosis elimination programme has made coordinated efforts to involve public and private health providers in accelerating TB notification. Government medical colleges which are tertiary care centres act as important catchment point for referral as well as for walk-in for tuberculosis diagnosis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the proportion of TB cases notified from various departments of medical colleges to NTEP for TB diagnosis and referral pattern of the presumptive TB patients.
Methods: This was a descriptive study. Data were collected of all presumptive TB patients referred from various departments of 4 selected tertiary care centres to NTEP for TB diagnosis between 1January to 31December 2018.
Results: A total of 1601 presumptive TB patients were registered in the study period, of whom 67% were microbiologically confirmed TB patients. Overall, 44% of presumptive TB patients were referred from the pulmonary medicine department, with 26%, 15%, and 4% from general medicine, surgery, and integrated counselling and testing centres departments respectively (χ2=1856.647, p<0.000).
Conclusions: Our study revealed that the proportion of TB patients notified by the medical colleges was high. Further strengthening of the referral system increases TB case detection thereby enabling early initiation of TB treatment leading.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
National tuberculosis elimination programme annual report India 2020, Central TB Division. Available at: www.tbcindia.gov.in. Accessed on 19 November 2020.
Global tuberculosis report 2020. Available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/336069/9789240013131-eng.pdf. Accessed on 19 November 2020.
Olson S, Rebbaca A. Facing the reality of drug-resistant tuberculosis. India: National Academies Press; 2012.
Padayatchi N, Daftary A, Naidu N, Naidoo K, Pai M. Tuberculosis: Treatment failure, or failure to treat? Lessons from India and South Africa. BMJ Global Health. 2019;4(1):1097.
Lal SS, Sahu S, Wares F, Lönnroth K, Chauhan LS, Uplekar M. Intensified scale-up of public-private mix: a systems approach to tuberculosis care and control in India. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2011;15(1):97-104.
Satyanarayana S, Nair SA, Chadha SS. From where are Tuberculosis patients accessing treatment in India? results from a cross-sectional community based survey of 30 districts. PLoS One. 2011;6(9):42-9.
Wells WA, Ge CF, Patel N, Oh T, Gardiner E, Kimerling ME. Size and usage patterns of private TB drug markets in the high burden countries. PLoS One. 2011;6(5):32-8.
Kondapaka KK, Prasad SV, Satyanarayana S. Are tuberculosis patients in a tertiary care hospital in hyderabad, india being managed according to national guidelines? PLoS One. 2012;7(1):30281.
Shivekar SS, Kaliaperumal V, Brammacharry U. Prevalence and factors associated with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in South India. Sci Rep. 2020; 10(1):17552.
Prasad R, Gupta N, Banka A. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis/rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis: Principles of management. Lung India. 2018;35(1): 78-81.
von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M, Pocock SJ, Gøtzsche PC, Vandenbroucke JP. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. J Clin Epidemiol. 2008;61(4):344-9.
