Contact tracing versus facility-based screening for active TB case finding in rural South Africa: A pragmatic cluster-randomized trial (Kharitode TB).

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is a dearth of comparative effectiveness research examining the implementation of different strategies for active tuberculosis (TB) case finding, particularly in rural settings, which represent 60% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods and findings

We conducted a pragmatic, cluster-randomized comparative effectiveness trial of two TB case finding strategies (facility-based screening and contact tracing) in 56 public primary care clinics in two largely rural districts of Limpopo Province, South Africa. In the facility-based screening arm, sputum Xpert MTB/RIF was performed on all patients presenting (for any reason) with TB symptoms to 28 study clinics, and no contact tracing was performed. In the contact-tracing arm, contacts of patients with acti

SUBMITTER: Hanrahan CF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6490908 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature