Missed Opportunities for TB Investigation in Primary Care Clinics in South Africa: Experience from the XTEND Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Setting

40 primary health clinics (PHCs) in four provinces in South Africa, June 2012 -February 2013.

Objective

To determine whether health care worker (HCW) practice in investigating people with TB symptoms was altered when the initial test for TB was changed from smear microscopy to Xpert MTB/RIF.

Design

Cross-sectional substudy at clinics participating in a pragmatic cluster randomised trial, Xpert for TB: Evaluating a New Diagnostic "XTEND", which evaluated the effect of Xpert MTB/RIF implementation in South Africa.

Methods

Consecutive adults exiting PHCs reporting at least one TB symptom (defined as any of cough, weight loss, night sweats and fever) were enrolled. The main outcome was the proportion who self-reported having sputum requested by HCW during t

SUBMITTER: Chihota VN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4575203 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature