Health seeking behavior among individuals presenting with chronic cough at referral hospitals in Uganda; Missed opportunity for early tuberculosis diagnosis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) is the 9th leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. Patients live in a complex health care system with both formal and informal providers, and it is important that a TB diagnosis is not missed at the first interaction with the health care system. In this study, we highlight the health seeking behavior of patients and missed opportunities for early TB diagnosis for which interventions could be instituted to ensure early TB diagnosis and prompt TB treatment initiation.

Methods

This study was nested in a cross-sectional study that assessed the accuracy of different Xpert MTB/Rif implementation strategies in programmatic settings at the referral hospitals in Uganda. We documented the symptom profile of presumptive TB patients and assess

SUBMITTER: Muttamba W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6553765 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature