Comparing tuberculosis management under public and private healthcare providers: Victoria, Australia, 2002-2015.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Private healthcare providers are important to tuberculosis (TB) management globally, although internationally there are reports of suboptimal management and disparities in treatment commencement in the private sector. We compared the management of TB patients receiving private versus public healthcare in Victoria, an industrialised setting with low tuberculosis (TB) incidence.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study: 2002-2015. Private healthcare provision was included as an independent variable in several multivariate logistic and Cox proportional hazard regression models that assessed a range of outcome variables, encompassing treatment commencement delays, management and treatment outcomes.

Results

Of 5106 patients, 275 (5.4%) exclusively saw private provider

SUBMITTER: Dale KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5415803 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature